Namikaze Twins
by SarissaDiablo
Summary: Minato was dead, his wife was dead, and Konoha saved. Little did he know that his life wasn't over quite yet.
1. Introduction

**Summary: Minato was dead, his wife was dead, and the Kyuubi sealed inside his son. He didn't know that the gods had other plans for him, or that he had no choice in the matter.**

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Minato opened his eyes slowly and saw nothing but black. Even as he sat up, he couldn't tell if he was sitting on nothingness, or floating in air. _I suppose this is what it's like to be dead. Ha! All those people who said there was a heaven can kiss my ass now._

His small amusement was short lived as an odd presence made itself known to him. He could feel it on the edges of his mind, and it simply hovered there. Growing annoyed, he was about to yell out to it, when a booming voice echoed around him.

"**Namikaze Minato, why are you here?"**

"I, uh…I'm dead?" he answered stupidly. Well, why else would he be here?

"**You are dead before your time. Explain yourself."**

Oh. Well, that was news to him. "Well, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, and I was forced to barter with the Shinigami in order to stop it. I sealed the yang chakra inside my son, Naruto, and the Shinigami took my soul, and the yin chakra was sealed inside me."

That was the short explanation, but he didn't really feel like explaining how his wife was the previous container of the Kyuubi, and how Uchiha Madara had extracted it right after she gave birth. How she had died...

"**It is decided."** The booming voice startled him enough that he jumped. **"The humans need you. You will be returned as the twin of your son. No one will be able to determine that you were once father and son. Your return as his twin will go all the way to the cellular level. Now leave."**

"Wait! What about the yin chakra of the Kyuubi?"

"**Like your son, your chakra and the yin chakra of the Kyuubi are now intertwined. We are forced to send it back along with you. NOW LEAVE!"**

"WAIT!"

He screamed it, and felt what seemed like hesitation on the part of the voice, so he hurried on. "Wait. What about the deal I made with the Shinigami? And why would I be sent back as Naruto's twin instead of an adult body?"

There was a hum in the air and he could only assume that the voice was speaking to someone, or something else.

"**We can tell you little. The former Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi offered her soul instead of yours, so the deal is still valid. You are being sent back as a baby, and your sons twin, because that is the only way we can erase your memories. You do not need to know more than that. Be content with the knowledge that you and your son are going to change the shinobi world for the better. Now, have we answered all your questions?"**

He thought about it, and smiled sadly. "Can I say goodbye to Kushina?"

There was another pause, and he held his breath, hoping. **"While we sympathize, you cannot speak to her directly. However, she wishes us to convey her love, and to tell you that you better protect your new twin or she will haunt you."**

He laughed quietly, sadly. He was trying very hard to cover the aching void in his heart, knowing that he would never see his wife again. "Yea, that sounds like her. Will…will you tell her that I love her, and I'm sorry things turned out this way? Oh…and I do have a single request." The voice hummed in question. He knew he was smiling, and it wasn't very nice. "Do not let me forget about Madara."

"**There are no worries there. We cannot let you retain your previous memories of him, but we are allowed to tell you that he will play a major role in your new life. He has lived far longer then he should have, and destroying him is the entire reason you are being sent back. Your son would have died, even with the Kyuubi, if he were alone. Also…as a present if you will, we talked with the Kyuubi. She understands what is going on, and has agreed to assist you and your new brother in any way she can. **

"**We will tell you one last thing. Since your souls and chakra are bound together, the Kyuubi will return as twins as well. Now, you must go back Namikaze Minato. Good luck."**

Between one blink and the next, he found himself screaming his lungs out, waving chubby, pink appendages in the air. Another scream joined his, and he turned his head curiously to see what it was. Lying next to him on the cold, wet grass, was another baby. Two nearly identical pairs of blue eyes met, one bright, electric blue, the other icier, and the screaming stopped. They were still staring at each other when the newly reinstated Sarutobi Hiruzen dropped by them, and lifted the two boys up with wonder in his eyes.

"But I thought Kushina only had one…" he mused to himself. He couldn't even check it, because everyone that had been present at the birth was dead.

"Hokage-sama, are those…?"

Hiruzen looked over his shoulder at the collection of ANBU, and nodded. "Yes, these are Minato's children, the Namikaze twins. Do any of you have a blanket?"

One with the horse mask on stepped forward, pulling out a thin travel blanket from a pouch under their robes. While wrapping the two still staring boys in it, he wondered. _Should I give them Kushina's last name? Namikaze is not very popular right now…but I don't want to keep the boys from their birthright. And the one is going to have Minato's name anyway, since they thought they were only having one. Namikaze Minato and Naruto…I like it. Giving them Kushina's last name would be just as bad considering she was from Uzushio(Whirlpool). Ugh, either last name is going to be a beacon for enemies!_

He growled to himself as he hopped onto a branch, flying through the trees on his way to the Hokage tower.

_Screw the enemies. These boys are heroes, since it looks like Minato sealed some of the Kyuubi in each of them._ Oh no, he hadn't missed the stark black seals on both stomachs. _I will make sure they are protected, no matter what. They deserve to have his last name. Sorry Kushina._

He winced as he landed on the ledge of one of the window, stepping gingerly down. He was too old to be Hokage again, but he didn't have a choice at the moment. With the boys safely in his arms, he flared his chakra, a silent signal that he was ready for people to meet with him. The first came in a blur of white and red. His former student looked at him, and then the children resting in his arms.

"Minato…" he whispered hoarsely, and Hiruzen felt the tears choke in his throat as he nodded.

"He's gone, but apparently Kushina had twins. Jiraiya, meet your godsons, Minato and Naruto."

Their eyes widened in surprise as the babies, no more than a few hours old, looked at the Hokage as their names were said, and then to the white haired man. Instantly, they both started babbling and held out their chubby hands to the man. With a sniff and his eyes full of tears, Jiraiya tenderly took the twins, laughing softly as they both tried to grab his hair.

"They look just like him sensei," Jiraiya muttered, his grief lifting a little when Naruto – the one with the bright, bright blue eyes – giggled happily.

"I have a mission for you Jiraiya," Hiruzen said, and the Sannin looked at him, slightly startled by the serious tone.

"Anything, Hokage-sama," he said with a slight bow.

"I need you to protect them. Originally, I was going to give them Kushina's last name, but I find I cannot go through with it. Minato and Naruto will have the Namikaze last name, and if it is known that you are their guardian, I believe it will give them the protection they need until they can handle themselves."

"But, sensei, what about my network?"

Hiruzen smirked and grabbed his pipe, putting it to his lips and lighting it with a small flame off the tip of his finger. His eyes were twinkling sadistically as he looked at his former student through the smoke. Even in the midst of all the sorrow that had gone on, one of his favorite pastimes was to tease his former student. "I am sure that you will be able to think of something, Jiraiya. Minato made you their godfather after all."

Jiraiya stared at his sensei with a slack jaw. "But, but…what about my research? What about my books?" He groaned at another thought. "What about my saké and women?"

"You'll just have to find a way to make do." Hiruzen's smirk deepened as he took a deep drag of his pipe. "Of course, if you want help, you are more than welcome to stay here."

Jiraiya paled at the thought. He loved Konoha, and most of the people here, but he would go crazy if he was stuck here for longer than a month. He went crazy if he was stuck _anywhere_ longer than a month. He looked down at the two infants, and when their big blue eyes stared so trustingly at him, he knew he was a goner.

"Alright alright! I'll stay for a few months, but only until I figure out how to do this baby thing!"


	2. 3 Years Old

**A/N: I just want it to be known right now that yes, this will be yaoi, though not until much much later in the story. Also, my twins are geniuses, and there have been documented cases of children as young as they are, speaking and acting the way that they do. So there is my reality, and also, it in the ninjaverse, so I suppose it also makes sense. Also, if I didn't explain things to your satisfaction, please tell me. I tried to make the things in here believable, as well as easily understood. *bows* Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy. ^.^**

**Oh, and a special shout out to Mizu Hoseki who was the beta for this, as well as my ladies on Skype. **

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**3 Years Old**

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**Kakashi  
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"Jiraiya! Jiraiya! Are we going to see ojii-san soon?"

The Sannin glanced up as Naruto's loud mouth interrupted his writing. Smirking, he observed the two boys as they came running towards him from the forest around the little cottage he had rented. They were both covered in sticks, dirt, some blood, and bruises. He had learned quickly enough that these two had some of the worst sibling rivalry he had ever seen. It often manifested itself with cuts and bruises, though he had heard that boys were a lot rougher than girls, so that might be part of it too.

"Yea yea gaki. We'll be going back soon. He hasn't seen you guys since you started walking, so I guess it's time."

Naruto turned to his brother and stuck out his tongue. "See? Told you Min! I knew we'd be going back soon!"

Minato snorted, putting his hands on his hips. "You didn't tell me nuttin. You just said that you were gonna make Jiraiya go back caused you wanted Ichiraku's."

"It was dad and mom's favorite! We're going back, so I win!"

_Ah, the magic words_, he thought, and sighed.

"What? You didn't win nuttin 'Ruto!"

"Yea I did!"

"No you didn't!"

Jiraiya just sat and watched them argue, marveling at how fast they had grown up. It had only taken him two months to feel confident enough to take them with him, and he would admit that having twin boys had gotten him a lot of women. He would never admit it to sensei though, but the twins had helped with his spy network too. It was rather alarming how charming the two of them could be, and as such, get him the information he needed out of the women. Barely even three years old, and the two of them were heart breakers already.

His eyes glazed slightly as his thoughts wandered, while still keeping an eye on the wrestling twins.

Not to mention that they were child prodigies, easily on par with Kakashi, Itachi, and the original Minato. A perfect example being their speech, and the way they easily took to chakra training. Jiraiya didn't even have to carry them around anymore, and was starting to have to work to keep up with _them_ when they traveled. And their understanding of the world around them was amazing too…

But anyway…where were his thoughts? Oh yea…

Naruto, with his bright eyes and personality, and the bashful, huge grin. Minato, with the icier blue eyes and calmer personality, and already able to smooth talk his way out of anything, made them a devastating team. They never balked when riding on his back and he was forced to fight, and neither ever complained. In his heart, he knew that if he ever had children, he would want them to be like either boy. Essentially he already had his children. They just weren't his by blood. Though, that didn't make any difference to his heart.

His palm connected with his face though when Naruto yelled in indignant surprise, Minato having pinned him face down with his hands behind his back. He watched through his fingers as Minato gained a very smug smirk, even though he was breathing slightly heavier. Naruto thrashed around, and though he was the stronger, he couldn't get away from his twin. Finally, panting, he relaxed and scowled over his shoulder.

"Yield brother?" Minato asked, and Jiraiya couldn't help but snicker at the superior tone.

"Yea yea, now get off me Min."

He hid a sharp grin when both blond heads came up, staring with predatory intensity towards the south. He had a contact meeting him at the cottage, and he hadn't warned the boys about him. It may have been a little mean, but he wanted to see if the twins had actually learned anything from him. So far, all they had done to people they viewed as an unknown threat was prank them, and let Jiraiya deal with the hard stuff. It was nice, especially since they were geniuses at surprising people, and as such, kept his enemies off guard, but he knew that hadn't been all he had taught them. Had it?

They both disappeared into the forest surrounding the small place, leaving with a hardly there whisper of wind. He still couldn't figure out how they did that, since it wasn't any sort of teleportation jutsu he had ever seen. He knew it had something to do with their wind affinity, but that was all he could figure out. With it, they were able to move just like how their father had. Of course he had asked them several times, and each time they both said "A good shinobi never gives away their secrets." All with identical cheeky grins on their whiskered faces.

He couldn't feel their chakra anymore, so it seemed they had learned how to suppress it. He shivered at two barely there chakra flares, and chortled. They _did _learn his invisibility jutsu after all! He would know the tell-tale shiver anywhere.

Slowly but surely, the chakra signature came closer, and Jiraiya was glad that the man wasn't trying to mask it. He had warned him about the twins, and how they acted when they perceived a threat to each other or him. He didn't think they would do anything serious, but with those two, he never knew.

Twin flares announced them using a jutsu, followed by a very unmanly scream. Blinking wide black eyes, Jiraiya watched as blond heads appeared around the corner of the trail leading to the cottage. When he saw what they were dragging behind them, he couldn't help it. He fell off the porch, holding his stomach and roaring with laughter.

Kakashi, his contact from Konoha, was roped up and being dragged behind the twins. His normally silver hair was flashing wildly between bright neon colors. He knew what it was. It was the first seal they had ever created by themselves, though they had based the exceedingly simple design on one Jiraiya had previously made for changing hair color. He was teaching the boys everything he knew about sealing, and they had taken to it like water to a sponge. He'd never forget how they had put it, when he said he was surprised at how quickly they were learning: "It's just like a language Ero-Sennin! We know the basics already from living with you!"

It was a minute before he was able to get his breath back, and by the time he wiped away the tears from his eyes they had untied Kakashi, and were sitting with completely unrepentant grins on their faces next to him. Kakashi was smiling, but there was a tic in his eyebrow that told Jiraiya exactly how pissed he really was.

"Kakashi," he gasped, and then doubled back over in laughter when the teen looked at him. Biting his tongue, and using the pain to help him gain control, he took a deep breath. "Sorry. I did warn you about what they do."

"Maa maa," he muttered, flapping his hand. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure they'll tell me how to fix it."

Jiraiya glanced at the twins, his own smirk developing when he saw the evil light in their eyes. It grew even wider as they spoke together, their words formal. "You sure about that Hatake-san?"

The young Jounin – only 13 – glanced at the boys and saw their looks. His visible eye narrowed at them, and it only made their evil grins wider. "If not, I can make you tell me. I am a Jounin after all."

Jiraiya only shook his head in bemusement when Naruto snorted, Minato's grin falling away to be replaced by his more serious look. This was gonna be fun. He could already tell they had something planned for Kakashi.

"Eh, you might be a Jounin, but we're the Namikaze twins! If you don't want to go back to Konoha with rainbow hair, then you gotta catch us!"

Kakashi snorted, glancing strangely at Jiraiya. The toad Sennin looked as though he was having a fit, when in reality, he was trying valiantly to hold in his laughter. "A pair of three year olds is no match for me."

With that, the twins stood, Minato smirking at the older boy, and Naruto had a broad, cocky grin on his face. "Oh really, Hatake Kakashi? If you are as good as you say, you have until sundown. That's about…what 'Ruto? Two hours?"

"Yea, something like that. Hey, Ero-Sennin! Tell us when to start!"

Controlling himself, he waited until Kakashi stood, and then nodded. All three disappeared, and shaking his head, Jiraiya went inside to put away his writing supplies and get dinner ready. He was very happy that he had so much money now. He had been forced to take a couple mercenary jobs just to keep his little monsters fed. Ah well, he knew he would rather have been feeding them then letting them sit in some orphanage in Konoha.

**~o~o~o~o~**

He had just finished putting all the food on the table when a growl of outrage reached his ears. Grinning, he stepped through the door, and saw a still brightly colored Kakashi glaring at something on the roof. Rolling his eyes – because now he knew what happened – he rapped on the wall.

"Boys, get down here and take that seal off Kakashi. Dinner is ready."

With a whoop of happiness, Naruto landed gracefully on the dirt and launched himself into the cottage. Minato walked down the side of the building, swinging himself from the eaves and onto the porch. With a smug grin aimed at a fuming Kakashi he followed after his brother. Jiraiya shrugged apologetically at the shinobi.

"You took them up on their challenge, Kakashi. Come on in and let's eat."

He turned and entered the cottage, knowing Kakashi was following him because of the grumbling. When they were all seated, they said 'itadakimasu', and began to eat. Well, Naruto and Minato started shoveling food into their mouths, and Jiraiya watched Kakashi watch them.

"Amazing…"

"They are, aren't they?" Jiraiya answered quietly, causing Kakashi to blink his single grey eye at him, and then nod slowly.

"I looked everywhere in the forest for them, and the entire time, they were sitting on the roof. They truly are geniuses."

"Hey! Dun 'alk 'bout us li'e we're n't 'ere!" Naruto yelled, spraying a bit of food and with noodles still hanging out of his mouth. Before Jiraiya could do it, Minato smacked him on the back of the head.

"Swallow your food before you talk 'Ruto," he mumbled, and glared back at his brother. Grumbling, Naruto finished chewing and swallowed, settling his eyes on Kakashi, studying him.

Kakashi was taken slightly aback by the penetrating stare. There was no malicious intent in it, but he still felt as though he was being picked apart by those strangely mature, intelligent eyes. He couldn't remember if he had been this adult when he was 3, but probably not. That electric blue gaze was intense, and he actually felt the urge to squirm, a blush rising to his cheeks without him knowing why.

"You don't have to wear your mask around us Hatake," Minato said quietly, and Kakashi was suddenly treated to the double effect of both of them staring at him. He looked back and forth between them, feeling sweat begin to bead at his temples. He couldn't get away, frozen by their unnatural intensity, wanting to beg them to stop, to confess everything he had ever done. He wanted-

"Boys!"

The sharp command made them blink, and Kakashi pressed a shaking hand to his temple as dizziness overcame him, the intense scrutiny gone all at once.

"Sorry Kakashi. I think it has something to do with the Kyuubi's sealed inside them, but…" Jiraiya sighed, and the twins fidgeted under his disapproving glare. They knew better then to turn their 'look' on a friendly. He sighed again. He also knew they couldn't really control it when they were curious about someone. It just happened.

"It's almost like a version of killing intent," Kakashi croaked, and deciding to say fuck it, he pulled down his mask, inhaling fresh air without the constant suffocating feeling of the cloth.

"Yea…kinda," Jiraiya said slowly. "Instead of causing fear, it makes someone want to confess everything. Doesn't matter how small or large. You just want to spill your guts to them...trust them, if you will. A good trait for a Hokage, if you ask me."

Kakashi nodded as the boys drooped, looking dejectedly down at their food.

"Sorry 'Kashi," Naruto mumbled, glancing up hopefully. He paled slightly when Kakashi refused to meet his eyes and bit his lip, looking back down. The Jounin could feel the unhappiness and almost fear radiating off the brighter blond, and chanced a glance at Minato. His ice blue eyes were glaring right at him, and once again he was caught. It wasn't as bad as when they both were meeting his eyes, but now he could actually _feel_ the pulses of rage and uncertainty coming from the boy.

"We didn't mean to do it, Hatake, and we both apologize for that," he said icily, his young voice nearly a hiss. "But we _can_ control it! When we're trying to figure someone out is when it gets out of our control, and you've made us both curious. So, sorry…but...don't be afraid of us!"

He blinked slowly as Minato's voice cracked slightly on the last sentence, and blinked again when the boy looked down, reaching over and taking Naruto's hand in a comforting gesture for them both.

It was such a childish gesture, and with the uncertainty radiating off them… He was forcefully reminded that they were only 3, despite their speech and the way they acted.

These were his sensei's boys. He could at least try to do what they asked. "What…" he started, then stopped, swallowed, and tried again. "What were you trying to figure out?"

Naruto looked up through his bangs, still biting his bottom lip. "Um, well, I just wanted to know why you wear your mask. Is it because you look like your dad?"

Kakashi's world broke and reformed in a heartbeat. He was surprised that his voice came out steady. How did they know? "Yes, it is."

"But…" Minato's voice was confused, and he glanced at a silent Jiraiya before looking back at Kakashi. "We know what he did. I mean, he lost, but he saved everyone right? Jiraiya always tells us that saving your teammates is more important than anything else. That's why Konoha is so strong."

"I think it was wrong how he was treated," Naruto's voice piped up, small, but firm. "He should've been a hero! I think he did the right thing!"

Kakashi stared at them, he couldn't help it. He had refused to think of his father for so long…but hadn't he done the same thing when it came down to it? Hadn't he disregarded the mission to follow Obito and save Rin?

"You don't have anything to be ashamed of. That's what I think."

He hated the fact that he felt tears in his eyes at Naruto's quiet, heartfelt words. However, he was a Jounin, and he knew how to hide his emotions. And right now, he really needed to push them away and think about them later. So he smiled. "Yea, I think you're right. Now, let's finish our food."

The boys chorused out bright "Yeah's!" and proceeded to begin shoveling their cooling food into their mouths. Looking down at his own, Kakashi also began to slowly eat, mindful of Jiraiya's sharp eyes on him.

The rest of the night passed pleasantly, and Kakashi quickly learned that the boys hadn't been lying when they said they could control whatever it was with their eyes. It was also a pleasant surprise to find out that the cause of his constantly changing hair color was a simple seal that had been quickly drawn on the back of his neck, right above the mask. If he had rubbed it, that would have been the end of it. A simple tactic that he learned all three of them used to change their hair color, and they also tattooed it on shinobi's for a price, for better undercover work.

As Jiraiya helped them get ready for bed he sat on the porch, a cigarette smoldering in one hand as he stared at the stars. Absently, he reached up with his free hand and rubbed his fingers across his lips. Tonight had to be the longest he had gone without wearing his mask since his father had died when he was 5.

Once he had gotten to know the boys better, he had realized that their eyes were mostly just their personality. He had forgotten that his sensei had been like that. The intense, piercing, sincere blue eyes that the twins had also belonged to the original Minato. He had always believed it to be the mark of someone with a strong, unyielding spirit. A stubborn, curious soul too tenacious to ever give up.

Exhaling forcefully, he took another deep drag, and let the acrid smoke trail out of his mouth. He didn't usually smoke since the mask got in the way, so it was a nice change. Being out of the constant flux of people in Konoha was a nice thing too.

He glanced to his right when Jiraiya exited with a bottle of saké, saying nothing as the Sannin sat next to him.

It was another few minutes before Jiraiya actually spoke. "Orochimaru is with the Akatsuki now. I haven't been able to get much information on them, but tell the Hokage to be on the look-out."

Kakashi nodded and stubbed the cigarette out, flicking it into the darkness. "How are the boys coming along?"

Jiraiya snorted. "Well, despite their massive chakra reserves, inhuman stamina, and unhealthy fighting habits, they're doing well. I plan on taking them to see sensei here in a few weeks."

"Is the ability with their eyes a Kekkei Genkai?" he asked quietly, and Jiraiya hummed softly in thought.

"I don't really know. I think I've developed immunity to it of sorts, because it's rare when they can use it on me. It's possible that the Kyuubi's chakra altered something, but it's also possible that it's just the nature of their personalities." He hummed again, relaxing against the front of the cottage. "For ones so young, they are more jaded then most, but they are completely and utterly trustworthy. If they make a promise, they will do whatever it takes to keep it, and if you tell them a secret, they keep it to themselves, even under torture."

Kakashi looked sharply at Jiraiya at this admission and the Sannin looked back, completely unrepentant. "How do you know this, exactly?"

"They understood my job when they were only a little over a year old, Hatake," Jiraiya said in a slightly cold voice. "Those two are true child prodigies. Don't let their size or age fool you."

Jiraiya took a sip of his saké, humming in appreciation before continuing. "They understood how much of a liability they were for me, especially since _I_ am Konoha's spy network. They agreed to it, because the boys told me they understood what would happen if one, or both of them were to be captured. I was only planning on using a mild torture genjutsu, but…" He smirked a little, his deep grey eyes far away. "They told me it wasn't authentic enough, so they told me to step it up. I ended up using a few techniques I've used on enemies, and neither of them even flinched. And before you get more pissed, I told them I wouldn't test them until they were two. The only thing that has me worried is if their loyalty is more to me then to Konoha."

"Then as long as you're loyal, they will be too," Kakashi said quietly, lighting another cigarette with a small chakra fire.

Jiraiya laughed softly, and saluted Kakashi with his saké. "How very true Kakashi. Now, tell me all the dirty gossip."

Kakashi laughed and they spent a pleasant night exchanging stories, and when he started going on his way in the morning, he was stopped by a tug on his pants. Looking down, he blinked at Naruto's earnest, smiling face.

"I want you to have something, 'Kashi," the boy said with a sheepish grin, holding up what looked like a plain piece of black granite. As soon as it hit his hand, Kakashi almost dropped it. There was so much chakra contained in the stone, he was surprised it wasn't melting! It also took him touching it with his skin to feel it, which was impressive. Examining it critically, it took looking at it with his Sharingan to finally see the thumbnail sized seal embedded within the stone itself.

Blinking in wonderment, he stared at the boy. "What does it do? How did you make it?"

Naruto's eyes flashed red, and though his large, charming grin never left the whiskered face, Kakashi was suddenly very, very wary. "Naruto…"

"The Kyuubi's protects their own," he said with a laugh, pointing at his uncovered Sharingan. "You weren't born with it, but you've done good with it, so they don't care." He then pointed to the stone. "There are three stages to that stone. A little chakra will tell us that you need to talk, more…say, the amount you use for a regular clone, means that it's urgent but not life threatening." Naruto's eyes darkened slightly, becoming very serious. "Any more than that and it better mean that your life is in danger, because we'll be coming to you immediately. And that works no matter where you are, got it?"

Kakashi knew he wasn't doing a good job of keeping the skeptical look off his face. Even with the Kyuubi's – since the Bijuu were twins now too – they shouldn't have been able to make something like this. Naruto sighed and grumbled a bit, giving him a peeved glare.

"We had to have Jiraiya and the Kyuu's help us. We get the sealing thing pretty well, but this one was way beyond what we know." He hummed thoughtfully. "It was really the Kyuubi's that made it possible. It's their chakra after all…"

Kakashi nodded dumbly. Well that made more sense now. The rock that he held in his hand, something that was no bigger than a small leaf, was suddenly more precious to him than anything else that he had ever owned. Besides Obito's eye, but that was to be expected.

"I…I don't know what to say Naruto," he said quietly, crouching down so he was eye level with the boy. He smiled, reaching out and ruffling the blond hair, and received an indignant squawk in response. "I swear on my honor that I will use it only as directed."

Minato walked up then, smiling slightly. "He probably forgot to tell you, but in order for it to work it has to be touching skin. So make sure it doesn't get taken from you, and keep it touching your skin at all times for at least a month." His eyes took on a thoughtful air, and he blinked. "You know what, let me see that again."

Kakashi handed the stone back over and watched in amazement as the twins completely enclosed it in their hands, working seamlessly together without words. It was something that he had only ever seen twins able to do. They were so attuned to each other, that no words were even needed.

A bubbly red chakra formed around the two of them, forcing him to step back away from the scorching heat. It was enough to instantly kill all the vegetation that they were standing on, and Kakashi swallowed at the raw power that was coming from them. It lasted no longer than a minute, and when the cloaks disappeared they turned to him with beaming grins, and Minato held the stone back out to him.

It was no longer rough. A flat, matte black, speckled with white and silver, it was now a perfect circle, and engraved on it was the symbol that his dogs wore. How they knew that symbol he didn't know, but he also didn't question it. It was obvious by this point that the twins knew a lot more then they let on. There had a small hole at the top, just big enough to fit a chain through. He took it back, and grinned.

"That's better," Naruto said, and both boys nodded their heads in agreement. "Now you can put it on a chain, because it has to…uh…shit! What the hell is that word Min?"

"Resonate? Acclimate?"

"Acclimate! Yea, that's it! It has to acclimate with your chakra so you're the only one that can use it!"

He blinked when a plain silver chain was dangled in front of his eyes, and as he took it, he glanced at the man who had given it to him. Just barely he could see a similar chain around the Sannin's neck. Humming, he fed it through and slipped it over his head, tucking the stone under his clothes so it lay flat against his skin. As soon as they touched it flared with chakra, and then went completely quiet. Staring down at where he could feel it, he tentatively fed it a small amount of chakra. He gaped in surprise when the pair of black plugs each twin wore flashed a very muted white. Why was he just now realizing that the boys not only had their ears pierced, but they were stretched as well?

Naruto laced his hands behind his head, giving Kakashi a smug smirk. "Yea, that's how you do it. You like the earrings? We were just gonna have a bracelet or something, but they were to obvious, and regular sized earrings weren't big enough for the seal, no matter how small we made it. So we had to stretch our ears, and no one thinks to look there!"

Kakashi shook his head in amusement and awe, acting on impulse and bent down to grab them both in tight hugs. They squeaked, but almost instantly hugged him back.

"Thank you both. You two are one of the best gifts I have received." He smirked at them, and vanished in a poof of chakra smoke.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto put his hands on his hips and glared towards Konoha. "Friggin' Jounins. I swear, you gotta be insane as hell to be a Jounin in Konoha…" He trailed off and blinked, looking at a stunned Minato, and a grinning Jiraiya. "He did just say that _we_ were the best gift, right?"

Jiraiya nodded and Naruto blushed, both boys looking absurdly pleased. They jumped when Jiraiya clapped his hand.

"Alright you two! Time for your leaf exercises!"

That was met with two groans, but Jiraiya was happy to see that there was a new lightness in their eyes as they went about gathering their leaves. Kakashi was the only one so far who had spent time around the twins – besides him – that knew of the Kyuubi's, their heritage…well, all of it mostly. He knew that Kakashi was a special case, but he sincerely hoped that the rest of Konoha could do what the Jounin did: look underneath the underneath.

* * *

**A/N2: Yes, I tweaked Kakashi's age. *smiles* I do know his real age, and by this point he should be 16 or 17, but I needed him younger.**


	3. 4 Years Old

**-.o.-.o.-.o.-.o.-**

**4 Years Old**

**-.o.-.o.-.o.-.o.-**

**Gaara**

**

* * *

**

Gaara closed his eyes, letting the feel of the sandstorm wash over him. So much raw, natural power, it was unbelievable. The people of Suna thought that he came up here because of Mother, and while he did, it wasn't the entire reason. Being out in a sandstorm guaranteed him peace for a little while. Peace from the assassins that his father sent; peace from the fearful gazes. He was starting to come to terms with that, beginning to like seeing fear on people's faces when he walked by, but he couldn't quite let go of his past. A past that told him that if he only had enough control over Mother's powers, he wouldn't accidentally hurt people, and then they would like him.

Mother scoffed, the sound echoing around in his skull.

"**They will never love you like I love you, child**," the crooning voice whispered, and he smirked slightly, letting the warmth of contact with her fill him. _This_ was what he wanted. The sense of peace, happiness…_belonging_. He didn't care that his hands were stained with blood, and would continue to be so as long as she never left him. She was the only one he could count on now besides himself.

"**I know Mother. That is why I'll do whatever you want me too."**

He stood, facing the howling storm with crossed arms and a stoic face. His chakra was suppressed so much that not even his father - the Kazekage, who was sitting right below him under the roof in his office - could sense it. He dropped gracefully to the streets, the sand slowing down his progress till his feet landed lightly. There was…something different about this storm. Almost…almost expectant. There was a curiosity building in him as he began to aimlessly search the streets. For what, he didn't know, he just had the urge to do it.

Buildings were sealed and the people of Suna were all inside, huddled away from the screaming force of nature. As soon as he reached the merchant part of the Village his eyes snapped up, and the curiosity was increased.

Standing on the roof of one of the better inns, were two cloaked figures.

"**Something isn't right with them, child,"** his Mother's voice whispered, and Gaara frowned at the fear she tried to hide. It was clear to him however. He had lived his entire four years of life sensing the same fear now coming from her. Despite her warning, he used the sand to lift his body, landing lightly on the roof. Mother was urging him to kill the two fools, to prove that he existed, but his curiousness overcame it.

He blinked as two pairs of bloody eyes turned towards him, identical faces with three, broad whisker like scars on each cheek. Mother recoiled as the two walked slowly towards him, invisible chakra with wisps of red pulsing around them. Just like his, it was enough to keep the power of the sandstorm at bay, though he narrowed his eyes as he heard the soft sounds of something hitting the tiled roofs. Looking harder as they neared, he realized that the sand was being turned to glass when it hit their chakra. When they got close enough, he could tell why.

Though it passed harmlessly over him to include him in their bubble, he could feel the searing heat from it. He imagined that their chakra was how the sun would feel if he was ever close enough.

"Hi! You're Gaara right? I've been wanting to meet you!"

Gaara blinked, ignoring the overly happy words, and concentrating instead on the whimpering sounds of Mother.

"**Mother? Mother, what's wrong?"**

"**Kyuubi…twins, inside and out…too much power…crushing, burning…too much…!"**

"Shukaku is running, isn't he?" a cool voice asked, and Gaara glanced to the one on the left, confused. Shukaku? Who was Shukaku?

"We're Jinchuuriki, just like you! All three of us have a Bijuu sealed inside us! Well, we each got a Kyuubi, but you have Shukaku! That is so cool! Is that how you can control the storm? Did he give you the sand you have?"

"Naruto," the one on the left said quietly, and through his whirling thoughts, Gaara noticed that this 'Naruto' had very bright blond hair, while the other had a lighter blond, though they looked identical of face and both had crimson eyes.

Naruto turned to his twin as Gaara watched, still trying to figure out what they were talking about. "But, Minato! Ero-Sennin said we should try to find Gaara!"

'Minato' rubbed his forehead, glaring at his twin. "I know Naruto, but I think you're just confusing him. Not all the Jinchuuriki were brought up knowing about their Bijuu. We were exceptions, remember?"

Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Right."

Gaara's mind was reeling, and he tried calling out to Mother for the answers he needed. When she wouldn't respond, his heart starting to race, his chakra beginning to collect sand automatically. He knew what he had to do to make her come back. He had to kill these two fools, and she'd be back! He would not let her go! She was the only one that cared about him!

"Subaku Gaara," Naruto said quietly, and it was the eerie, rough edge to his voice that made Gaara freeze, staring into those earnest, fathomless red eyes. "Shukaku will not come back as long as we are around you. See, me and Minato each have a Kyuubi, and we each can summon all nine tails worth of what we have. The Bijuu system is based on respect and fear, and those are earned because of their power. So think of the Kyuubi's as being kings of the Bijuu." Naruto and Minato both winced as Gaara stared at them, wide-eyed. Bijuu? His…Mother wasn't his Mother?

"Fine. 'Queen' of the Bijuu. Better?" Naruto grumbled as Minato snickered. "Picky ass demons, geez. Why did I have to get the prissy one? Anyways…"

Gaara flung his sand at them, with no thought in his head except to kill them, to prove that they were liars. His Mother was his Mother! She was not a Bijuu! She was not this 'Shukaku'!

It never connected though, because Mother's chakra was suddenly gone from it as it neared the twins, and he didn't have the control needed to finish the job. He blinked wide teal eyes, seeing the slight shimmer of red around each male. Mother whimpered once again, and fled utterly.

"NOOOO!"

He screamed the word, falling onto his knees and clutching at the still scabbed wound on his forehead. It burned!

"We told him to stay away," Minato said quietly as they walked over and kneeled by his side. He glared at them hatefully, frustrated tears in his eyes. "Gaara…one of the things about the Bijuu. The more power, the more sentient the beings are. All the Bijuu are intelligent, but the less power, the less…" He looked at Naruto, and the other blond picked up the explanation as Gaara hung on every word. He wanted to understand all of this so badly!

"Basically, Shukaku is a manipulative, psychotic bastard only interested in getting what he wants. And what he wants is blood, and you insane enough to let him free. Granted, all the sealed Bijuu want to be free, but nothing likes living in a cage." All three boys winced at _that_ happy thought.

"Anyway, ours are a good example." He paused, frowning a bit. "Even if we don't know how the original Kyuubi was turned into twins like us. Anyway, like I was saying, they're pissed because they're sealed, but they understand we didn't have a choice, anymore than they did. They have enough mental ability to reason, and rationalize. Shukaku is like a baby. If he doesn't get what he wants, he throws temper tantrums, but since he can't do it himself, he makes you do it. Like I said, what he wants is to be free, and since he can't have that, he will try to drive you insane."

"But…" he whispered, staring at the blood on his hand. He must have peeled the scab off his wound. It fascinated him as he shakily touched his forehead, feeling more wetness mixing with the Armor. "But, Mother is all I have. If she leaves me…I'll be alone. I…I don't want to be alone anymore!"

"Shhh Gaara," Naruto said and hesitantly reached out, wrapping his arms around the red head in a gentle hug. Gaara stiffened, unused to human contact, but slowly relaxed as Naruto continued to talk. "We're your brothers by default. All three of us have a Bijuu inside of us, but we're not monsters no matter what people say. We control them, not the other way around. Do you want people to keep seeing you as nothing more than Shukaku, or do you want them to see you as Gaara?"

"Ga-Gaara," he hiccupped, relaxing even more when another pair of warm arms wrapped around him. He was now shielded from the storm – both mental and physical – and he couldn't remember ever feeling this safe before. Wrapped up in their warm chakra, he closed his eyes and leaned forward, resting his forehead against Naruto's chest. This was so nice…he'd never felt something like this before.

Now he knew what he was missing when he watched other children enviously. The safety when their parents hugged them, the happiness in knowing there was someone who cared for them that deeply. He had only known these two for less than an hour and already he could feel it.

"Don't worry Gaara," Minato said quietly, comfortingly running his fingers through the shaggy mass of red hair. "You'll always have us. Now, let's go back to our room, and we can get some food and sleep. Since my Kyuubi Laz has suppressed Shukaku for now, you'll be able to get actual sleep."

Gaara frowned and lifted his head up, looking between the two of them curiously. "Sleep? You mean, I can get real sleep? Without the nightmares?"

Minato nodded as Naruto beamed at him. "Yes. I said we won't leave you, and as long as we're around you, Shukaku won't bother you."

Gaara bit his bottom lip. "Alright. But, my father keeps sending assassins after me. I don't want the two of you to get hurt."

He blinked as their smiles fell away, being replaced by cold, beautiful masks.

"You're father is sending assassins after you?" Naruto hissed, and Gaara cringed away slightly, nodding. He knew they wouldn't hurt him, but seeing that change…it was scary.

They both huffed, and took deep breaths. Then they smiled sheepishly at him, Naruto enveloping him in a hug again. "Don't worry Gaara. No assassin will be able to kill us."

So Gaara followed them into their room, feeling better, but still wary of the tightly leashed rage he felt in the two of them. They were just sitting down to eat when the door was slammed open. Instantly his hand shot out, enclosing the person with sand and without a second thought, he began to close his fist. His lips started shaping the words that he knew all too well.

"Gaara."

His hand stopped and the words died on his lips as his attention switched to Minato. He never took his eyes off the Coffin, but it was clear he was listening.

"That is our godfather, and the man who raised us. We would appreciate it if you let him go, please," Minato said, and Gaara couldn't miss the slight amusement he spoke with. Reluctantly his hand relaxed, and the sand flowed back to him and into his gourd. When the cork was firmly in, the man removed his cloak, eyeing Gaara curiously.

He had long white hair and red tattoos on his face, with a very distinctive protector.

"You're Jiraiya of the Sannin," he said, and Jiraiya beamed.

"Yes I am! Also the writer of-"

Two pairs of chopsticks were suddenly embedded right next to his head as twin killing intent flared, and he grinned sheepishly. "Yea okay, I'll stop with the long winded introduction."

The food was finished, and Gaara marveled at the interaction between the three. There was no fear, healthy respect yes, but no fear on Jiraiya's part. For Gaara, it was a sign that there were people out there who were willing to see him as Gaara, and not as a monster.

After some talk and a lot of laughter on everyone's parts, Gaara lay down in the other room, surprised that since the last time he had heard Mo – no, _Shukaku_, not _Mother_ – the demon hadn't spoken up once. Gaara hadn't even felt any stirring from the Bijuu. Talking to Jiraiya and the twins had been a real eye opener for the young Jinchuuriki. He had learned more about what had happened to him, and why his father was sending assassins after him, then any questions he had asked. No one had wanted to disobey the Kazekage and inform Gaara of why exactly everything was happening to him.

If someone had told him about his lack of control and the Bijuu, he would have worked hard to correct it. He had never liked how people were afraid of him, but no one had ever told him that what was in his mind was a Bijuu.

He closed his eyes against frustrated tears. If only someone had told him!

His eyes cracked open as he heard the sound of three raised voices and crept slowly out of bed, pressing his ear to the door. Now he could hear clearly.

"I don't want him to stay here," he heard Naruto say stubbornly, and could imagine the pout and steely eyes.

"Naruto, Jiraiya is already having a hard time looking after us. Do you really want to add to that by bringing Gaara with us?" Even though it stung, Gaara could understand the reasoning behind Minato's words.

"Yes! He's just like us Min! Except we never had a dad who sent assassins after us, or an entire Village that fears us! It's-"

"Naruto, calm down." Gaara blinked as Jiraiya finally spoke up. "We're here for another few days while this sandstorm blows out, so we have time to figure something out. If I find out that his father is purposely doing these things to him, then I can't leave him here. Not only will it be dangerous for the citizens, but if he's around either one of you, his Bijuu will be able to be controlled."

Jiraiya hummed as Gaara's heart kick started into a galloping beat. Would they really take him with them? He knew that Jiraiya would find out that what he had told them was true. So, that meant he would go with them, right?

Right?

"I'll do some research tomorrow. For now go to sleep, and make sure that one of you keeps control of Shukaku so Gaara can too." Another heavy sigh. "I can only imagine how barely sleeping for four years had affected him, so make sure he gets what he can."

"Yes Jiraiya," the twins chorused, and Gaara slid back into bed silently. Closing his eyes with every intention of thinking about what he had heard, he found himself slipping into deep, velvet blackness.

He was startled wide awake a few hours later, heart hammering as his ears strained to hear what had woken him. A whisper and a soft creak of a window being opened alerted him to yet another assassin coming after him. However, before he could even react with his sand, there was a loud thump.

Sitting up straight, hand already extended, he froze at what he saw. Minato was sitting on the assassins back, a kunai to the person's throat, and Naruto was stuck to the wall, constantly searching the still moving sandstorm. When Minato looked at him, he couldn't help but smirk in bloody satisfaction at the crimson, pissed eyes.

"Is this one of them?" Minato hissed, and snarled when Gaara nodded. Another moment passed, and then Jiraiya entered through the door. He looked with hard grey eyes at the assassin, and then at Gaara.

"Go with Naruto and Minato to pack your things. Don't come back for an hour, but when you do, make sure you have everything you want. We leave then, and you won't be coming back. I can't stand by and continue letting your father do this."

Minato kept his kunai to the person's throat until Jiraiya had a good grip on him, and it wasn't until the three of them were ready to leave that the man spoke.

"You'll never get away with this. The demon is the Village's weapon. You'll never make it out of Suna."

Gaara watched in awe as this man he had seen only hours previous laughing and joking, frowned, his eyes hard chips of slate. "And you'll never make it out of this room. Naruto, Minato, it's time for you to go."

His awe only grew as the boys inclined their heads, faces serious. "Hai."

He was grabbed, his sand rustling warningly, but it wasn't a moment later that they were bounding over the rooftops, their powerful chakra making a living barrier around them and protecting them from the still raging sandstorm.

"Um, Minato, Naruto…I want to say goodbye to my sister and brother, if I can," he said as they reached his lonely, small suite of rooms. They paused at his request, and glanced at each other.

"I don't see why we can't," Minato said quietly, and handed him a scroll. "This is a storage scroll. It should have enough space in it for you to put everything you need into it."

He took it, eyeballing it curiously. "How do I do that?"

"You unroll it, and then set everything you want to take on it, and then channel some chakra into the seal. The more stuff you want to store, the more chakra you need."

"Convenient," he muttered, and it only took him ten minutes to gather everything he wanted and seal it into the scroll like they directed. Looking at the scroll, no longer then a pencil and as thin as his finger, he marveled at it. Nodding his head decisively, he stored it in his newly attached weapons pouch. He had never needed it before, but the twins had assured him that he would now. He promised himself he would learn how to make these seals.

He turned to the twins, and blinked at what he saw. Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the floor, a single thin needle in his hand, and a small tub of what looked like white ink sitting to his right.

"If you're coming with us, then you need a way to change your appearance without using chakra," Minato explained, obviously seeing the confused expression on his face. "Henges can be broken, so the three of us designed this seal. With just a little chakra…" He and Naruto removed their fingerless orange gloves, and touched the backs of their right hand. Gaara felt a very small pulse of chakra and their images wavered, being replaced by two boys with black hair and eyes, though they still had the distinctive whisker marks on their cheeks. They touched the seal again, and after another pulse, they were back to their blond haired, blue eyed selves.

"What about those?" he asked, pointing to their faces. They grimaced.

"Well, since these come from the Kyuubi's," Naruto said with a pout, "we can't get rid of them, no matter what we use. Just like you probably won't be able to get rid of your scar or the circles around your eyes. But changing your eye and hair color should be enough. Oh, and don't worry. Tattoo's hurt, but this one is small, and shouldn't take more than ten minutes to finish."

Curious, because he'd had heard of tattoo's, Gaara released his Armor, smirking a bit when the two boys looked startled. Directing it back into the gourd, he slung it off his back and sat in front of Naruto, holding out his right hand. Naruto scooted closer so Gaara's hand rested on his knee, and then dabbed the back of his hand with a wet piece of cloth. The blond pressed a small piece of paper with blue writing on it to his skin, and after a moment lifted it off, leaving a light blue seal no bigger than a small coin. Picking up the needle and dipping it into the ink, he paused.

"Min, you're on Shukaku duty." Gaara blinked as Minato nodded, and felt the first prick of the needle at the same time there was a flash of his Kyuubi's chakra.

As Naruto continued, Gaara realized that it wasn't that bad. It hurt yes, but…it wasn't anything like he expected. Also, there was no shifting of his sand, which meant that Minato and Laz were keeping Shukaku from interfering. He blinked slightly, the seal half way done, and looked at Minato.

"Why do you call your Kyuubi Laz?"

Naruto snorted as Minato smirked, but the brighter blond never took his eyes off the tattoo.

"It's short for Lazy Ass. My Kyuubi is really lazy, unless it's something that she wants. Naruto's is nicknamed Princess, because she's a prissy prima donna."

Gaara swore that he could almost hear the twin Bijuu growling in annoyance.

Just like he said, in ten minutes Naruto straightened, back cracking. Taking the same cloth, he gently wiped the blue off his hand, and Gaara examined the reddened flesh.

"Alright, all you need to do is channel a little bit chakra into it, and have a visual in your mind of what you want to change into. The seal will do the rest," Naruto said with a big grin. Doing as he was told, he took their huge grins as a sign that he had indeed transformed. Just like they did, with another pulse, he changed back.

"Alright, now that the tattoo is done, we should go see your siblings," Naruto said while stashing away the tattoo supplies in another small scroll.

"No…" Gaara said quietly as he stood, slipping the gourd onto his back. He had been thinking about that while the tattoo was being done. "I changed my mind." He didn't mention that they would probably be happy he was gone, but it seemed they got it anyway.

He blinked as they both snarled.

"Is there anyone in this fucking Village that even likes you?" Naruto growled, his eyes flashing red.

"You two and Jiraiya," he replied without hesitation, and his eyes went wide as their killing intent flooded the room. He wasn't really affected by it, but he was surprised that they had such a strong reaction to what he said. It hurt, yes, but he was used to it. It was why he just wanted to leave. "Can't we just go?"

They opened their mouths, but another cloaked figure tapped lightly on the window. All three were tense as the man opened it and stepped inside, flinging back his hood. It was Jiraiya…but not.

"It's alright to come back," the Sannin said, and when the twins both nodded, he took a kunai and stabbed himself. Gaara blinked as he popped into smoke.

"Kage Bunshin," Naruto explained, probably at seeing the surprised expression on his face. "We'll teach that one to you too, 'cause it's really useful for people like us who have massive amounts of chakra." The twins hesitated at the window, Minato glancing back at him.

"Are you sure you want to come with us? You'll be leaving everything behind…"

Gaara scoffed, shaking his head and crossing his arms stubbornly. "There's nothing for me to leave behind."

Minato nodded in understanding as Naruto grumbled, and it wasn't an hour later that he experienced his first taste of freedom.

And he loved it.


	4. 6 Years Old

**-.o.-.o.-.o.-.o.-**

**6 Years Old**

**-.o.-.o.-.o.-.o.-**

**Tsunade**

**

* * *

**

Tsunade snorted as Naruto glared at her from where he was panting on the grass covered hill. Minato was shakily standing on his feet, and Gaara was right next to him, hands trembling as he held his kunai.

"You brats ready to give up yet?" she called arrogantly, putting her hands on her hips. Somewhere behind her Jiraiya snorted and she rounded on him, eyes blazing.

"Do you want to join them Jiraiya?"

He squeaked in fear and held up his hands. "No, no! I was just laughing at them being ready to give up. In fact…" The corner of his lip twitched as he pointed behind her, and she whirled around in time to dodge Naruto's fist. Then she kicked him back down the hill with a pretty decent blow, and Gaara came at her from the right. She grabbed _his_ arm and threw him into a charging – _but not fast enough_ – Minato, sending them both flying back down the small hill. She smirked evilly when they all glared at her.

_They all have something individual they need to work on, but the biggest thing is their teamwork. _She studied them as she thought, allowing them to regain some strength. She had been working them pretty hard lately though. _They need it,_ she thought ruthlessly. _If they can get their shit together and form a team, they'd be nigh unbeatable._

It had only been a week since Jiraiya and his boys had found her, and she still couldn't believe that she had been talked into training them for a month. As she set her feet, preparing herself for the rush of attacks from the three, she could admit silently to herself that she wasn't talked into it. She could claim she was all she wanted, but really, this had been won fair and square.

_Damn, dirty kids._

Naruto had made a bet with her that he and his brother could win her a lot of money in exchange for training. She had agreed, and lo and behold, they had won her enough that she could pay off her debtors in this village, and still have some left over.

Her attention was snapped back to them when Naruto tensed, telling her that he was going to attack. She caught a clumsy kick from Naruto then grabbed the other, forcing him to hold his body up in the air.

"Stop!"

Everything froze, and she leveled her glare on the one in her grasp. "You're short Naruto. Now, that isn't always a bad thing, since when people see you, they'll underestimate you. Take advantage of it."

While she knew he resented it, it was true. He was only 3'4, pretty short for a boy of 6. Even Minato was taller, though only 3'6, while Gaara was the tallest at 3'10.

She moved his foot from chest level, holding his small body up easily, and lowered him to the ground. Then she patted her knee. "You want to go for the knees and hips, because you get more leverage and damaging power. You'll lose it if you go higher, unless Minato or Gaara is distracting them and you can jump."

_I could give them some hint as how to form this team._ "You have the brute strength, your brother has the speed, and Gaara has the long range attacks."

_For being short, Naruto is going to have a lot of power. He's gonna be a brute when he gets older,_ she thought with a grin.

Then she threw him suddenly into the other two, where they were a little too slow to dodge. They did catch the flying boy though, even if they staggered a bit.

Even though they glared she had to admit, Jiraiya did well in raising these three. They hardly ever talked back to her, and did everything that she said.

"Now, make up a plan and come at me again. There's no way the three of you shouldn't be able to take me down at least once if you do it right."

Naruto perked up at that, standing and brushing off his pants. The hyper blond was already bouncing on his heels, any bad feelings gone. _Need to respect him for that at least._ "You really think so baa-chan?"

Her eyebrow ticked and she gave him an evil smile. "Yes."

She used _shunshin _to appear in front of him, and thumped him hard enough on the head that he fell on his ass, whining. "And don't call me that! You have ten minutes."

She whipped away from them and sat herself down by Jiraiya and Shizune, accepting the cup full of saké from her teammate.

"You think they can actually do it?" he asked. She nodded, smirking as she leaned against the tree. It was the middle of summer in Kusa, and the shade under the oak was a nice, cool spot.

"I wouldn't have told them that if I didn't think the little idiots could do it," she muttered before downing the liquor.

Jiraiya filled her cup again as he hummed. "Minato told me that you're teaching him medical jutsu."

"Tch. He's the only one that has the control for it. As it stands, he'll never be on the same level as me or even Shizune, but he'll be damn close. Besides, your team needs a medic, and he's the best candidate."

It was quiet for a moment, the only sound the soft, indistinct murmuring of the boys down the hill. She hummed, voicing thoughts she'd had since she met them.

"You know, Jiraiya, I think you should spend time teaching Naruto some of your special moves. Tch, Naruto isn't special," she said in response to his surprised look. "Minato is like his dad - he's got the speed instead of strength." She hummed thoughtfully, now sipping her saké. "Though…with the wind flash thing those two have…I guess they're pretty damn fast."

"Yea. Who ever knew that it was something Minato gave them when they were babies?" At least, that's the theory he believed.

The twins didn't know how they could do it, but they had told him that they had always known the small, pinky-nail sized seal that allowed them move like that. Over the years, they had embedded it into anything nearby when they had stopped. There was only one stipulation however. It could not be put on or in anything that was living, or once was.

They didn't know why either, only that it didn't work when they tried. They also had to be written in their combined blood.

When he had finally gotten them to explain _what_ it was, they had told him that their father did it with his natural affinity, lightning. Except the Yondaime had somehow twisted it into a space-time jutsu, somewhat like the shunshin. Using his elemental affinity just made it easier. Now they on the other hand, didn't use it as a space-time. He hadn't quite figured it out yet, and they didn't know, but it seemed like they simply _disintegrated_ and let the wind take them to the next seal. The farther apart the seals, the more chakra, which was why they had so many scattered over the Elemental Countries.

In battle, they used the same technique that the Yondaime did. Except, instead of his special kunai, they used tiny pebbles with the seal embedded within them. So if they lost one, all anyone would see is a plain, dull rock. It was basically the same thought behind the stones that hung around his, Kakashi's, Gaara's and Sarutobi-sensei's. He wouldn't be surprised if by the end of this training session, Shizune and Tsunade would have matching stones.

Tsunade stared at her teammate as he stared off into space, and smirked when one of the twins threw a pebble at her. "You'll have to do-"

She dropped her cup and scrambled backwards around the tree as she got a face full of blonde and wind, and ran smack into Gaara's sand. It enclosed her completely except for her head, and while she knew she was strong, she also knew she wasn't quite strong enough to break out of the chakra laced sand; especially when it was filled with Shukaku's as well.

Naruto was beaming at her, bouncing the pebble that had hit her in his hand.

"Alright idiots, you got me," she admitted, and smiled a little when the two blonds whooped in happiness, and even the ever stoic Gaara cracked a small smile.

Brushing stray sand off her clothes when she was released, she glanced at Jiraiya, who was looking a little pained.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked. He coughed, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"Well, I forgot to tell you how they do their wind flash jutsu. You see the stone that Naruto is holding?"

She nodded. "The pebble?"

"Yea. Well, that pebble has a very small seal embedded within it by the Kyuubi's chakra. It's the same premise as the Yondaime's jutsu. They throw the stone, activate the seal inside, and follow it."

"But…" She frowned. "How?"

"Wind," Minato said simply as the three sat in front of the adults. Naruto sprawled on his back, staring up at the sky, and Gaara put his head on the blonds stomach, his legs thrown over Minato's lap. Minato settled his hands on the pale legs, and all three of them looked extremely comfortable.

"Wind?" she asked, hating that she sounded stupid, but she just didn't get it.

"Yea, wind. Uh, how to explain it…" Minato muttered to himself, eyes glazed and thoughtful.

"Without an affinity, it would require the use of dangerous levels of chakra." Surprisingly, it was Gaara who spoke, his voice calm as usual. "It can be done, but even for us with a Bijuu's chakra to call on, it would exhaust us quickly. From what I understand the Yondaime used lightning, and traveled along the bolt. Though he was able to change it into a time-space jutsu. Hmm…anyway. They use wind. By using an affinity, it lessens the chakra they use, as well as giving a medium to travel with."

He hummed slightly as Tsunade thought it through. It made sense, actually. "What about the other elements?"

"We haven't figured out how to do it with others," Naruto replied, yawning and putting his hands behind his head. "At this point, I don't think it can be done. Fire, water, and earth don't have quite the same properties as lightning and wind."

Tsunade hummed again. That made sense too. Lightning and wind were the two most destructive elements, and also the fastest. Also, no matter how she thought about it, she just couldn't see it being done with any of the other three.

She was thrown out of her thoughts by a loud squeal from Naruto.

"Ero-Sennin! The Kyuu's wanted us to show you something! Princess wanted to ask something too…" His eyes scrunched up as he tried to remember what his Bijuu had said, and Minato sighed.

"After seeing it, Princess and Laz want to know if it qualifies as a special element or not, like Gaara's sand."

Tsunade blinked at the names. Princess and Laz? Who… Then she remembered. Jiraiya had told her that somehow the original Kyuubi had been split into two entities after being sealed, twins just like Minato and Naruto. No one knew how it had even happened; only that it did.

"Uh," Jiraiya said, blinking a few times. "I suppose. You want to do it here?"

"No. We should be on water for this." Minato and Naruto smirked, and even Gaara snickered a little, telling her that he knew what it was too. "We don't want to burn down everything."

"There's a large lake behind us," she supplied, curious. They jumped to their feet and shot off into the trees, and the three adults got to their feet more slowly, exchanging looks.

"Well it's something to do with fire," she said dryly, and Shizune grinned while Jiraiya laughed.

"Mmm. It should be interesting if it's something that the Kyuubi's showed them."

They made it to the lake and found the blonds already standing on the surface, Gaara relaxing on a stone ledge, pants rolled up and naked feet in the water.

"Hey hey! You guys ready?" Naruto called to them and they nodded. Tsunade sat cross-legged on the ground and crossed her arms.

She watched with narrowed eyes as what looked like a small blue flame started between their feet. The water below began to steam, and it only got thicker as the flame began to slowly engulf their bodies.

It wasn't long before they were completely covered, columns of steam rising around them and into the sky. Then both boys opened their eyes, and said a word that she couldn't hear.

Her jaw dropped and eyes bulged at what happened. The blue disappeared from the flame and the steam increased tenfold, almost making a fog around them. The only way she knew that they were still surrounded was the way the air warped and bent from the heat.

Standing, she started to walk over to them, but she only got a few feet onto the water before they yelled, "Don't come closer!"

"Why not?" she yelled back, a little miffed.

"We…can't control it properly yet! Don't…want to…kill you…" Minato yelled, and with just the little bit of lessening the distance between them, she could see the strain on their faces.

"Baa-chan…please, go back…" Naruto said, his voice tight. "We're…loosing it…"

She hightailed it away, and as soon as her foot stepped on solid ground, the technique exploded. She was thrown into Jiraiya by a wave of blistering heat, and they were only protected from being boiled alive by a hasty, pure chakra barrier from her teammate.

She whirled around, her heart thumping with fear for the boys, and sighed quietly in relief when she saw that Gaara had caught them with his sand and was slowly bringing them to shore. Her relief turned to agitation as she stalked over to them, smacking them both on the head as soon as they were deposited onto the bank.

"Baka! You don't use techniques that could kill you and other people until you can control them!"

Naruto glared at her, rubbing his head. "Then how are we supposed to learn how to control it if we don't practice!"

She opened her mouth to argue back, but Minato's quiet voice stopped her. "Tsunade-hime, please. We knew you could protect yourselves, which is why we felt confident enough to show you. No harm will come to us when we practice that, and we have only done it when no one else is around."

Still peeved, she glared at them, switching it to Gaara when the small red head walked up. "You knew about this?" She demanded.

He shrugged. "I knew. I've been with them each time."

"And you didn't warn us?"

Gaara just shrugged again, giving her a little smirk which sent her temper flaring dangerously. "Minato is right. The three of you can protect yourselves."

"You little…" she snarled, but was stopped from strangling the bastard by her teammate, switching her glare to him as he stood in front of her.

"Tsunade-hime, I would prefer you not to kill my charges," he said with a smile, and she closed her eyes, deliberately reining her temper in. When she felt it was at a more manageable level, she opened them and glared at the kids around her. Taking vicious satisfaction in the fear in the faces when she smiled, she pointed back the way they had come.

"You have to the count of three to get out of my sight and back to the hill. If you're not practicing taijutsu by the time I get back, I am going to have a conversation with your Bijuu, and tell them not to give you any of their chakra for a week."

All three gaped at her, eyes wide in astonishment. _That_ was a new threat. It didn't matter that she didn't know how she could pull it off, but if they didn't listen, she would find a way.

"But…baa-chan…" Naruto whined, and squeaked as he dodged her fist, sprawling ungracefully on the ground.

"One," she started, holding up a finger as her eyebrow twitched. When they just looked at each other, her eyes started snapping fire. "Two."

She smirked as they all rushed away, looking back out to the pond. She noted the difference in the water levels and blinked in surprise. It was at least a good two inches down from where it had been before they did their technique. The air was steamy around them, slowly dissipating in the gentle, constant wind.

"Do you suppose that was regular fire?" she asked quietly.

Jiraiya shook his head, and she fell in step with him as he started walking back towards Shizune. "No. The temperature of it was hot enough to melt sand." He held out a hand, and she narrowed her eyes at the bit of clear, smooth glass that was there. Taking it, she blinked at the faint hint of Gaara's chakra that was still attached. It had to have happened when he caught the twin's right after the explosion.

"For it to be like this…" she said quietly.

"Right. It burned away all the impurities making it clear, and it's completely smooth. You only find that with obsidian, which is made with-"

"Lava."

They looked at each other, thoughts whirling. If the twins could control something that was the same temperature as a substance that could melt _stone_…

Jiraiya pulled something out of his shirt, and looked down at it as though he was seeing it for the first time. "So that's how…"

"That's how what?" she asked, stepping closer to see the stone. To her, it looked like an ordinary, polished piece of quartz, no bigger than the center of her palm. It was a flat circle, and only the width of her pinky. The light happened to catch it just right and she swore she could see… "Can I see that?"

Jiraiya shrugged and took the chain off. As soon as it touched her skin, it pulsed with the combined chakra of the Kyuubi's and the twins, and she almost dropped it. It felt like a warning, and her instincts were screaming at her to drop it, but she didn't. At least now she knew what she had seen was true. There was a seal _inside_ the stone. Not inscribed on the outside. Actually _inside_ it.

"Jiraiya, what-"

She got nothing else out as two very pissed and agitated chakras came barreling their way. She barely had a chance to step back into a taijutsu stance, automatically reacting to the threat of violence coming towards her, when two blond and red blurs attacked.

"Why did you take it from him?" Minato demanded as she twirled around, blocking furious strikes from him.

"We trusted you Tsunade!" Naruto yelled, and it hurt her more than she would say to have him call her by her first name. She swore as he almost dislocated her knee, punching him in the solar plexus and sending him crashing back into a tree. She stepped back, eyes narrowed as she studied the icy, pissed expression on Minato's face.

"It's not what you think!" She prepared to defend herself as Minato frowned, readying himself to attack her again, but then Jiraiya stepped in.

He grabbed the back of Minato's shirt, and threw him into the same tree that Naruto was still trying to untangle himself from. It had been a long time since she had seen such a furious expression on his face as he faced the twins. She sat down and started to heal her knee and the bruises and the cuts she had gotten from the brief exchange, listening the entire time.

"Boys! Explain yourselves, now! Haven't I been telling you that you need to learn patience?" His hands were on his hips, and she smirked a little to see the sheepish expressions on their faces as they stared at the ground, fidgeting.

"But, Ero-Sennin…" Naruto whined, and got a sharp rap to the top of the head for it.

"No, don't 'Ero-Sennin' me Naruto! You rushed into it, instead of using your head! What the hell would make you think that she would take it from me? She wanted to look at it, so I let her! You didn't even bother to ask what was going on first! Because of it, you're going to spend the rest of the day practicing your control! Now. Go apologize, and do it right."

Their faces blanched when he mentioned the control exercises, and she smirked when they bit their lips, looking at her. They rose to their feet and walked over slowly. She blinked in surprise when they gracefully went to their knees, putting their hands on the ground and bowing to her.

"Our deepest apologizes, Tsunade-hime," they said in unison, and she sighed. She was still annoyed, but they hadn't done any lasting damage.

"It's fine," she snapped, almost regretting her sharp words when they both flinched, foreheads still pressed to their hands. "Get up. I said its fine."

They glanced at each other and then sat back on their heels, watching her with apprehension.

"Uh, you probably have questions," Naruto said quietly, giving her a small version of his trademark grin. Rolling her eyes, she glared at him.

"No shit." Holding up the stone she dangled it in front of her, caught for a moment by the beautiful way the quartz caught the light. "What is this exactly?"

"It is a piece of quartz," Minato said, and she transferred her glare to him.

"Once again, no shit. What is the seal inside of it, and how did it get there?"

"Ah, well…that one is a little harder to explain," Naruto chuckled nervously.

"With the help of Jiraiya and the Kyuubi's, we designed a seal that allows the wearer to tell us if they need to meet with us, or if they are in danger." Of course the clinical explanation would come from Minato.

"Yea! We also added our wind seal to it, so if the person is in danger, we can go right to them!"

She frowned at the explanation from Naruto, and looked to the patient Minato for the rest of it.

"What he means, is that the seal has three levels to it. The first is only if the wearer needs to talk, nothing life threatening. Second is the need to talk, but urgently. Third is if their life is in danger. If it ever is taken away from the person it has…bonded to, for lack of a better word, it alerts us immediately."

Her frown only deepened as she examined the seal more closely, only now seeing the faint pulse of red chakra outlining the outermost part of the coin sized seal.

"So as soon as I touched it, it alerted you?" They nodded. "Is this how you know how to use the fire jutsu that you showed us?" Another nod. "How?"

"The Kyuubi's are fire based Bijuu, which is how we were able to embed the seal directly into it. We carved the seal onto the surface, and they sunk it into the stone, and then melted it back over the seal so it never wears away." Minato shrugged and turned his head to look at Naruto. It was then that she saw the small pulse of white in the gauged plugs that were in their ears.

_Those must be the receptors,_ she thought.

"Anyway," Naruto continued, after the silent conversation they had. "They taught us how to change their chakra into actual fire, and then spread it over our bodies." They shrugged again, but she saw the embarrassed pride they had. Then Naruto grinned cockily, putting his hands behind his head. "It was nothing after that! Now we just gotta learn control!"

"How do you make it invisible?" Jiraiya asked, eyes narrowed and thoughtful.

Naruto gave him a cocky smirk, and Minato smiled smugly before chorusing: "We used your pervy jutsu!"

Jiraiya's jaw dropped open, and Tsunade turned to look at him. She knew _exactly_ what jutsu they were talking about. "Your technique, huh?" Her voice was sickly sweet, warm with the old anger she always held for her perverted teammate, and he turned to her, face pale.

"Tsu-Tsunade-hime, I-"

"I don't want to hear it Jiraiya," she snapped, waving her hand. There was another question she had. "Why do the Kyuubi's help you two so much? From what I understand, the Bijuu don't work with their Jinchuuriki like they do with you."

She blinked at the change that came over them both, wariness and trepidation twisting her belly.

They both drew themselves up to their full height. Their faces closed down into hard masks, their eyes becoming cold chips of sapphire.

"We cannot tell you that, Tsunade-hime," they both said with a bow, and even their voices were rougher, deeper.

"Why not?" she asked, despite the nagging feeling that she should just drop it now. She swallowed her own rapidly beating heart when they both looked her in the eyes, and she felt the pull of their personality just like Jiraiya had warned her about. They continued to stare her down, and she felt as though her soul was being dissected, every failure and triumph laid bare before the ancient, haunted eyes.

She forced her gaze away, and shakily pressed a hand to her temple as dizziness washed through her, leaving as quickly as it came. Taking a deep breath, she spoke without looking at them. "Fine. Keep your secrets." She knew her voice was bitter, but didn't care. "Now stop with the eye thing."

"We all have our secrets, baa-chan," Naruto said quietly, and she glanced at them. They were back to normal, but their eyes shone with melancholy. She wondered what other secrets the two geniuses had in their brains, but from the display just now, she knew she would never push. Not unless she wanted all her secrets bared to the world too.

**~o~o~o~o~**

Later that night, Tsunade and Jiraiya were sitting silently on the roof of the inn they were all staying at, when two blond heads made their way over the edge. Tilting her head curiously, she exchanged a look with her old teammate as the two walked with solemn faces to them and knelt, using chakra to stick to the tile.

"Can we help you two hellions?" she asked, grinning a bit when they smirked at her new title for them.

They exchanged a brief look, smirks falling off, and Minato took a deep breath. "Jiraiya, we need you to tattoo something on us."

Tsunade was taken aback, but Jiraiya just hummed. "What is it this time? You both already have storage seals."

"It's…well…" Minato blushed a bit, his eyes guarded. Naruto rolled his and smirked.

"It's a seal so we can read minds," he said bluntly, and it made both of them blink.

"Read minds?" she asked, and took a drink of her saké. "Why would you need to do that?"

"We're shinobi baa-chan," Naruto said as his smirk widened when she scowled. "If we can use whatever the hell it is with our eyes to our advantage, there won't be any need for us to break into people's minds. Princess and Laz helped us with it. They said that if we activated it and caught the person with both our eyes, then we'd be able to look through their memories like a picture book."

"But…how does it work?" she asked, seeing the validity in having such a seal. Whatever it was with them – be it a Kekkei Genkai or simply their personality – it would be stupid for them not to capitalize on it. She scooted closer to Jiraiya when he was handed a piece of paper, the seal drawn on it. She narrowed her eyes as grey ones opened wide in shock, and poked him in the side of the head.

"Explain it to me damnit."

He blinked, and the fact that he didn't blush or stammer something told her how into the seal he was. His index finger began to trace the inside symbol – infinity.

"I can't believe you two found a way to use this," he whispered, voice awed and slightly scared. He glanced to Tsunade, and smiled thinly. "The infinity symbol is a powerful one, because instead of a regular symbol, this one can't be deactivated and will use chakra permanently...and continuously. For all the others, you put a set amount of chakra into it, and that's it." His finger then started to trace the three circles overlapping the symbol, the smallest encircling the point where the infinity crossed. The second was bigger, crossing the center of the loops. The third circled it all.

"This largest circle is an inhibitor, so the infinity doesn't use more chakra then it should, and it can be turned off. From the looks of it…this would only take as much chakra as a Kage Bunshin?" He glanced up, and smirked when they nodded. "The second is where it really starts. I would say that this is based off the Yamanaka's jutsu, and the Sharingan. This is what would allow you to look into their minds and see their memories?" The twins nodded again. "The third, the smallest one, is purely Sharingan. It transfers what you saw directly into your brain for storage. How…"

The twins smiled slightly, and shrugged. "The Kyuubi's were the ones that really designed it," Minato said with another shrug. "They told us what to draw, and we did."

"Have you tried it out yet?" he asked, and they nodded, eyes darkening.

"Gaara…he let us try it out on him. Ero-Sennin…" Naruto hissed quietly, and Minato automatically took his hand, face cold. "The things that happened to him…one of these days I will see his father dead and dragged through the streets."

The ferociousness of his tone took Tsunade back, but she was even more surprised to see Minato and Jiraiya nodding their heads, eyes hard. She wondered what had happened to the red head. She knew his father was the Kazekage, but she knew it wasn't her place to ask. He had been declared dead a year ago, a few months after he had gone missing, but that obviously wasn't the case.

"So, will you?" They both spoke at the same time, something she still had to get used to.

Jiraiya shrugged and poured himself a new drink, while pulling out a small scroll from his hip. "Sure. How big, and where?"

"Both temples, and hopefully no bigger than it has to be. We managed to condense it down so it fits there, but we were wondering if you could make it smaller."

Jiraiya hummed as he sipped his drink, studying the seal. She simply sat there, knowing this entire discussion was way out of her league.

"Let me look it over tonight, and I'll do it in the morning before you start training with Tsunade. For now though, go to bed. Gaara will be missing you two."

As if on cue Naruto rubbed his forehead, and Jiraiya sighed. "Shukaku still giving Princess trouble?"

"Yea," Naruto sighed, starting to rub his eyes and yawning. "They're getting pretty pissed at him, actually. If he doesn't quit, they might do something drastic."

Now she was even more confused. "Wait. What the hell does the Kyuubi's have to do with Shukaku?"

All three looked at her, but it was Minato who spoke first. "That's right…you don't know. To make a long story short, the Kyuu's are more powerful then Shukaku, and one of them makes sure that he doesn't try to take over Gaara's mind at all times."

She frowned. It made sense, but… "Why can't you just make a seal for that, instead of having one of the girls constantly on guard?"

Naruto and Minato shook their heads. "We tried. Even with Jiraiya's and their help, there's no seal we could think up that would suppress his mind, but still allow Gaara access to his chakra. It's either both, or neither."

She nodded. Now it made a lot more sense. "You said if he doesn't quit. I'm guessing that he is constantly trying to break free of their hold to take over Gaara?" They nodded. "What would they do, exactly, if he doesn't stop?"

They both just gave her a tired look, and Minato answered. "Probably kill the fool."

"But…I thought that was impossible."

"Naw," Naruto muttered, stretching out on the roof with his head on Jiraiya's crossed ankles. Minato did too, except his head was on a powerful thigh. The entire picture was one of comfortable familiarity, and she knew they sat like this a lot. "Bijuu can be killed, but it takes so much to do it that it's not worth it. Just easier to seal them into someone, and be done with it. Besides, if a Bijuu is killed, a new one will just take its place."

"Won't that kill Gaara though?"

"No," Minato said, yawning too. "When we said that they'd kill him, we didn't mean literally. They would just kill his sentient mind. His conscious, basically."

The twins abruptly shared a sly look and she could see the light bulbs going on in their brains. "That's not a bad idea, actually." And just like that they were off in their own world, starting with Naruto.

"She could…"

"Saves us trouble."

"Another one might…"

"Not likely."

"Sure?"

"Mostly."

"Not now though…"

"Yea, few years."

"Stronger…"

"Yes."

"Ok! Stop it!" Tsunade demanded, glaring at the two of them as they blinked and looked at her. "Both of you go to bed, now! I don't want to hear either of you bitching about being tired in the morning!"

They both squeaked and scrambled down the roof, leaving the adults in blessed silence.

"I don't get how you've handled those two since they were born," she muttered, smirking as he laughed.

"It's been an adventure, let me tell you."

**~o~o~o~o~**

Tsunade scowled at the three boys, grumbling as she tried to free herself from her current prison.

"Give it up baa-chan!" Naruto caroled. "Admit it! We got you this time!"

"Yea right gaki," she sneered, thinking that they did actually have her this time. And it was still a week shy of their one month mark. The three of them really were geniuses, able to work together flawlessly and come up with plans on the fly. Like this one.

She scowled again and tried to use her chakra to create flaws in the glass prison that was encasing her. She had been scared for her life when that special fire of theirs had come roaring towards her, but all she had gotten was a sensation of heat as the sand enclosing her had been turned to glass. Not even her clothing was singed.

"Tsunade-hime…" Minato said quietly, and she scowled at him. "I refrained from sealing your chakra because of who you are. If you were an enemy, it would have been the first thing we did after enclosing you in that prison."

"Then why don't you?" she challenged, increasing her chakra output. It was scary that she couldn't find any flaws in the glass to exploit, but she was also filled with a sense of pride. They hadn't been working together like this when she first started training them.

She saw a flash of blond, and suddenly she couldn't sense her chakra at all. Gaping, she slumped in the prison, starting to feel disorientated with the sudden loss of half herself.

"Ok, ok, you win," she gasped. Her vision was starting to blur and queasiness was overcoming her. The glass shattered around her, and three smaller bodies supported her as she collapsed onto the ground. Her chakra was unsealed, and she took a deep breath as her senses restored themselves.

Sitting cross-legged a few minutes later, she motioned for the three of them to sit in front of her, not missing the proud smirk on Jiraiya's face from beneath the same tree.

"Alright you three. At this point, I have nothing left to teach you. Minato, you need to work on your control, and you could be a med-nin that rivals me or Shizune." She smiled at the small, embarrassed smile she received, and turned to the next blond.

"Naruto, you need to learn how to curb your impulses. If you think before you act, or even just listen to Minato or Gaara, you'll be fine." Her smile turned to a smirk as he blushed brilliantly, scratching the back of his head. She turned to the last.

"Gaara…honestly, you need to work on letting _go_ of some of your control. You tend to over think things, which can be fatal in the midst of battle. Work on developing strategies." All she received was a nod from the quietest in the group.

She stood, and put her hands on her hips. "Well then, congratulations on surviving your training with me!"

She smirked as the blonds jumped up and danced around, and Gaara smiled. She wasn't quite done with them yet. "Now, as payment, you can come win me more money."

A chorus of "Aww Tsunade" was heard as she dragged them off into town.

It was early the next morning, and Tsunade smiled at the quartet as they waved to her and Shizune, before disappearing around the bend and out of sight.

Her hand absently went to the milky quartz stone around her neck, and she turned to her apprentice, seeing that she was doing the same thing to hers.

"We may have to find them again," she muttered, and refused to blush as Shizune gave her a knowing look. She'd never admit it, but those brats had wormed their way into her heart.

She honestly did want to see them again, to see how they turned out. Grinning at Shizune, she rattled a purse full of the earnings that the twins had gotten her.

"Time to go Shizune," she said, and relished the instant frown that overtook the others face.


	5. 8 Years Old

**-.o.-.o.-.o.-.o.-**

**8 Years Old**

**-.o.-.o.-.o.-.o.-**

**Itachi**

**

* * *

**

Itachi readied his chakra and Sharingan, heart and soul dying for what he was about to do to his little brother. His hand clenched around his protector, tears falling unheeded form his eyes. It was unfair for him to do this to Sasuke, but he could think of no other way to follow orders and still protect him.

He opened his mouth, ready to finish it and erase Sasuke's memories, when a small, strong hand covered his eyes, legs clenching in a vice grip around his upper body. Not only that, but a kunai was pressed along his jugular. Where the hell had this come from? He hadn't even felt any other chakra signatures!

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

He blinked at the young male voice right in his ear, feeling his eyelashes brush against the palm. The speaker couldn't be more than eight, the same age as Sasuke.

"What I am doing is none of your concern," he replied, subtly tensing his muscles to see if there was a way he could free himself from the iron hold.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're Uchiha Itachi, he's Uchiha Sasuke, and this is the Clan compound. You are the only two left alive, and I somehow doubt that Sasuke did this. This means that you killed your entire Clan. Would you care to explain?"

He closed his eyes, forcing every muscle to relax in the hopes of catching his captor off guard. He frowned slightly when the legs didn't even tremble around him, the hands never wavering. What would he have to do to surprise them?

"If you're thinking of trying to trick me," the voice said in a cruel purr directly into his ear, "think again. You have nothing on my brother, Itachi."

Then he knew. "You're one of the Namikaze twins."

"Hai."

His mind whirled. If _they_ were here, that meant that Jiraiya was somewhere close, had probably observed the same thing the boys did. Which meant the Sannin was either on his way to the Hokage or on his way here with their leader. The Hokage would understand. Sarutobi hadn't ordered the massacre, Danzo did, but the Hokage had known that it would probably come down to this…

"Now, if you would so kindly deactivate your Sharingan, I will remove my hand."

He tilted his head to the side a bit. "Oh? How can you tell it's even activated?"

The voice behind him snorted. "Because the Kyuubi was the one to develop the Sharingan in the first place. As one of their Jinchuuriki, I can feel when one is activated within my sensing area." The voice lowered until only Itachi could hear. "This is why I can sense the other one in the trees, watching us. Who is he Itachi? His Sharingan is very, very old. Laz recognizes it, but she doesn't know his name."

_Laz must be this one's Kyuubi,_ he reasoned. Also, now he knew that Madara was watching. He was not surprised. However, he was not about to tell a mere 8 year old about Uchiha Madara unless there was no other choice. "I do not know what you're talking about."

He reached out with his senses, trying to feel the eldest Uchiha, but recoiled when he came in contact with a pulse of vile, hate filled chakra.

His captor tsked a few times. "Jiraiya and the Hokage are on their way here, so whoever is there will be gone soon. In fact…yes, there he goes. Very soon you will have to explain why you slaughtered Konoha citizens."

Itachi laughed bitterly, he couldn't help it. He had no clue what was going to happen now, and all of his carefully laid plans were ruined. In that moment, he achieved an epiphany. If there were anyone who could defy and destroy the Council and Danzo, it would be these two boys and by proxy, Jiraiya. He saw no reason to hold his tongue any longer. Even if he was sentenced to death, at least they would be aware of Madara and the corruption within their ranks.

"My Clan was planning a revolt. I was ordered to destroy them when diplomacy did not work. They refused to listen to reason, and Danzo pressed for the elimination of the Clan. I believe he is in league with Uchiha Madara, the-"

He went still when twin, acidic flares of killer intent battered his senses, and he felt sweat immediately begin to sheen his skin. As quickly as it was there it was gone, and he took a deep breath before continuing calmly. "Madara is the chakra you sensed, since he came to me shortly after I gave the Hokage the news of the impending revolt, wanting to help me eliminate the Clan. I agreed, as long as he made himself scarce while I was with Sasuke. I was following orders, Namikaze-san."

There was a long moment of silence…then, "Is what he said true, Hokage-sama?"

Itachi truly froze, only now smelling the tell-tale scent of pipe tobacco that was faintly in the air.

"I am afraid it is Minato. Itachi came to me when he learned of his Clan's plans, and in turn, gave me information on them. He was a double agent, giving his father false information. They refused to listen to reason, and the revolt was scheduled for tomorrow night. I was trying a diplomatic solution, but…" Itachi could just imagine the shrug. "Every member of the Clan was a part of it, except the very youngest." There was a pause. "Itachi, in accordance to your wishes, their Sharingan's have been sealed and they have been taken somewhere safe. There are no longer any Sharingan users except you, your brother, and Madara."

"My thanks, Hokage-sama," Itachi said quietly.

"Is it true, this part about Uchiha Madara and Danzo?" the Hokage asked, his voice brisk. Itachi hesitated a moment, considering his options. There was no point now in hiding anything, even if he was sentenced to death.

"If I give you my word not to activate my Sharingan, would it be possible for me to tell you this face to face?"

There was another moment of silence. "I will take you at your word. Minato, let him go."

The body was removed from his, and he opened his eyes slowly to see an amazing sight. Standing in front of him, both lean bodies protecting his brother were the twins, and behind Sasuke was a red haired boy of the same age. The one on the right, with the slightly truer blond hair was looking at him through the bangs of his hair, and the other two weren't looking at him at all. He idly noted the various piercings that all three had, and what looked like scars underneath the black metal mesh of the armor on their forearms.

It took him a moment to identify the scars as tattoo's, done in white ink.

"Hokage-sama, would you like us to…?" The one on the left asked, and Itachi could tell just by the cold voice that this was the one that held him captive.

Behind him the Hokage sighed, but for some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off the glint of flame blue. "Very well. Just no permanent damage."

Before he could even narrow his eyes they touched their temples, and two intense, piercing sets of sapphire eyes locked onto his. He gasped, falling to his knees as vertigo overcame him. He couldn't tear his eyes away, and something akin to killing intent washed over him. Swallowing reflectively, he felt every personal barrier of his melt away as those eyes looked directly into his soul, bringing to light everything he had done – good or bad.

Childhood scenes, battles, blood…they all flashed in front of his eyes, and he knew without a doubt that the twins could see what he was. It was proven when he got to the memories of Madara, and it slowed down a bit. It was something like a genjutsu he was sure, but he felt no chakra, no twisting of his perception that told him it was a jutsu at all. They lingered over his thoughts during the massacre, the crushing guilt for killing everyone warring with the sense of justice in knowing he had done the right thing.

They finally blinked and touched their temples again, and Itachi collapsed onto his hands and knees, panting harshly through intense dizziness much to his shame. He didn't see them wince and wipe the blood that trickled from their noses.

Glaring at them a moment later, he caught their eye out of habit, and blinked when he realized they were shining with an emotion that looked like grudging respect. Also, they didn't have the compelling, arresting quality that they contained only moments earlier. That meant that it was something they could control.

"What was that?" he croaked, frowning at the sound of his own voice. The one on the right blushed slightly, and grinned disarmingly.

"Eh, nothing special." Then the electric blue eyes hardened a bit. "You've led a good life, Uchiha Itachi. You've been forced to make some tough decisions, but it was your love for your brother that has kept you from turning into a complete monster. I respect you for that."

The other twin nodded his head in agreement.

"So I can trust what he tells me?" the Hokage asked from behind him, as Itachi tried to settle his mind.

"Yea, he's good ojii-san. Oh oh! Why not blame the killings on someone else? Like, that snake bastard? Didn't he want a Sharingan? Right Jiraiya? …Jiraiya?"

"HE WHAT?"

Itachi almost jumped at the yelled words from his Hokage, and felt a very telling whoosh of wind as Jiraiya flashed away.

"Eheh, I guess he didn't tell you. Sorry ojii-san," Naruto said with another sheepish grin. The other one, Minato, just shook his head, a wry smile on his young features.

"Meh, I'll get him later. Until then, you boys come with me. All of you."

Itachi didn't dare disobey the command of his Hokage, but he watched with sharp eyes as the red head carefully picked up a still wide eyed, dazed Sasuke in his arms. As a group they entered the Hokage Tower, and watched as Hiruzen activated the silencing seals.

Itachi took a silent, deep breath as the Hokage sat down in his chair with a sigh, removing his hat and setting it on the desk. The room was quiet, except for the red heads soft, soothing words to his younger brother against the wall. He felt a sort of resentment at that, but he wouldn't be surprised if Sasuke never talked to him again.

"This won't be as hard to salvage as you seem to think, Itachi," the Hokage said in a kind voice, his brown eyes smiling. "With this new information about Orochimaru, as loathe as I am to do it, it won't be any problem to place the blame on him. Now-"

They all whipped around with their hands on weapons as the door was thrown open and Danzo stomped in, followed by the two elderly council members.

"Hokage-sama, I demand-"

They all froze as rabid, hungry, _furious_ killing intent filled the room. There were blurs of blond, and Itachi watched calmly with Sharingan activated as Minato flashed around the room, tags with an odd seal now covering every window, wall, and door. It took less than a second, and when the last seal was placed, Naruto bit his thumb and hissed something, pressing the bleeding digit to his own sealed tag. They all glowed red, enclosing the room in a scorching, bubbly shield of chakra. Well, except for the floor, but that still had a shield. It just wasn't hot like the others.

The two council members tried to back up into the wall, but had to scramble away quickly when the chakra burned them. Danzo turned to the Hokage with a furious expression on his face, ignoring the twins that were glaring at him with crimson eyes from either side of the room.

"What is the meaning of this? I demand you make those brats let us out!"

Cruel, sensuous laughter filled the room from two throats, making an eerie harmony that had the hairs rising on every pair of arms and every voice staying silent. Itachi shivered, his Sharingan deactivating unconsciously as he tried to make himself less of a target. He did not want their attention focused on him again.

"**You stupid, stupid human,"** Minato growled out, and Itachi blinked at the unnatural dual tones of his voice. Then he realized that he must be listening to the Kyuubi speaking through the boy. It was the only explanation he could think of since the rougher edge was definitely female. **"Did you think you could hide them from us?"**

"**Did you think you could hide that snake's taint in your blood too?"** Naruto continued, and everyone backed away from Danzo as the twins began to circle him. Their smiles were parodies of the real thing; all sharp teeth and maliciousness. **"The Kyuubi developed the Sharingan Danzo. You can't hide them from us."**

Danzo went stiff, his face paling though he still looked furious. "I have no idea what-"

The eerie laughter rolled through the room again. **"Stupid, ignorant human." **

The twins stopped right before the older man and snarled, flashing into action. Danzo didn't even have a chance to react as the bandages around his face were shredded, along with every scrap of fabric on his upper body. He was left half naked as the twins crouched down on either side, a thin shield of red chakra encasing them with a single tail. What was revealed left Itachi feeling revolted.

"Danzo, what is the meaning of this?" the Hokage demanded, glaring at the embedded Sharingan eyes in the man's right arm and eye that had been revealed.

Danzo just laughed, pulling himself upright as he glared around the room with a manic glint in his one, original eye. "You are weak Hiruzen! You have always been weak, with your delusions of peace! Peace does not exist in our world! I willingly went to Orochimaru and asked him to do this, so I would have the power to destroy you when the time came! Our world is changing once again Hiruzen. Your ideals have made us a laughing stock among the Nations, and that will destroy Konoha in the end." Danzo laughed as he crouched, his hands flying through a simple yet powerful Katon.

Somehow Itachi was the fastest, throwing himself in front of the Hokage and taking the full brunt of the jutsu. He collapsed to the floor in front of the desk, watching through blurry, pain filled eyes at something he could never forget.

Minato grabbed Danzo's arms a moment after the jutsu was released, using his Kyuubi fueled strength to keep them locked tight, as Naruto stood right before the aged man. The twins both has grins of vicious delight on their faces, that clearly said they were going to enjoy whatever it was they were planning.

He watched as Naruto used a single claw to cut a straight line down Danzo's sternum, grabbing the edges and ripping them apart to reveal the bone. He only glanced at the red head, and suddenly there was sand there, shaped like fingers, holding the sliced muscle and skin apart. That was when Itachi knew who the red head was. Subaku Gaara, reported dead by the Kazekage 3 years ago, but apparently it was just wishful thinking on Suna's part.

Everyone ignored Danzo's screams, morbidly fascinated by what Naruto was doing. The tip of his claw glowed white hot as he branded a seal directly into the white bone. With a snarl of satisfaction he tapped it, activating the seal. Danzo let out a horrific scream of pain and then collapsed. Minato threw him down with a look of disgust, kneeling down as red tinged green healing light encased his hand, sealing up the cut. In a few moments, no one could even tell that there had been a wound.

"What…" the Hokage asked from behind him, but his question was answered shortly. Each of the Sharingan eyes began to close, one right after another, starting at his hand and working their way up. With a small flash of red they sealed themselves, only small bumps in Danzo's skin evidence of what was there.

The red dissolved from the walls as the chakra around the twins winked out. They were caught by sand as they staggered, pressing their fingers to their temples with identical grimaces of pain. Itachi could only lay there, barely feeling the pain of the burn that covered almost his entire right side, in utter awe over what he had just seen.

"What did you do?" the Hokage asked quietly, sounding loud in the hush that had overcome his office. The twins looked at him, and even Itachi could see the strain on their pale faces, a small trickle of blood coming from their noses and ears, along with very blood shot eyes.

"It…" Naruto answered, and then coughed harshly, wincing as he wiped blood off his lips. "It wasn't really us, ojii-san. When the Kyuubi's were still one…she developed the Sharingan as a gift to the Uchiha Clan when they took care of her a few centuries ago. She was forced into a human form, all her chakra sealed, and a group of bandits found her." He paused, but Itachi knew there was no need for him to go into details. They all knew what would have happened if bandits had found a single woman traveling alone, with no means of defense.

"Anyway," Minato continued, gently rubbing his forehead. "The Uchiha's found her, took care of her, and helped her release the seal that had been placed on her chakra. In thanks, she developed the Sharingan for them, though she wasn't able to stop the drawbacks."

"Drawbacks?" the Hokage asked, curious despite everything that had gone on.

"Yea," Naruto muttered, wincing again when he tried to get free of Gaara's sand. It tightened warningly, and he shot the other boy a baleful look. The staring contest lasted for a moment, and then Naruto growled and relaxed again. "The more often someone uses the Sharingan, the quicker they go blind. It's not really that bad with just the basic Sharingan, since it doesn't use that much chakra."

"Though the Clan found a way to evolve it even further," Minato muttered, glaring slightly at Itachi. Itachi wanted to stop him from spilling all of the Clan's secrets, but the pain had hit him again and it was everything he could do to simply breathe. "It's called the Mangekyo. It only happens when they kill one person they have a deep set bond with. It can either be a close family member, lover, or best friend. Not even Princess or Laz understands completely what makes it happen, but they think it might be the severing of the bond permanently, or the grief that forces it to evolve."

"There's another stage that only Madara has achieved, though they just told us this," Naruto continued after a moment of silence. "It's called the Eternal Sharingan, and that only happens when a relative with the Mangekyo willingly gives you their eyes. They are implanted into the recipient, merging with their own Mangekyo, and all the side effects of the Sharingan become non-existent. No blindness, no nothing."

"But there are other drawbacks to it that happen no matter what level it's at. Since the Sharingan copies everything you see, it's all mental. That's why there weren't many Uchiha's in the ranks of the Shinobi," Minato said, his young voice hoarse with tiredness. "Every time the Sharingan is activated, anything you see from that moment until its deactivated is burned into your memory. Jutsu's, battles…everything. It causes horrible nightmares and will eventually lead to madness, because every night when you go to sleep, your worst memories are played back in such vivid detail it's like living through them all over again."

The entire room was silent for a long moment as everyone absorbed their explanation. Then Danzo groaned slightly, prompting the Hokage to spring into action. He deactivated the privacy jutsu and immediately, five ANBU were in the room, tense and wary.

"Horse, Hawk, take Danzo to a cell, make sure he has the chakra sealing cuffs on, and don't allow him to speak. He is responsible for the massacre of the Uchiha Clan." The two bowed and grabbed the still mostly unconscious man, flashing away in swirls of leaves, and he ignored the shocked looks on every ones faces. "Eagle, Tiger, escort the council members back to their rooms. Homura, Koharu, I will speak to you later, and everything you have heard is a SS-Class secret. If you speak of it to anyone, I will have you executed, former teammates or not." All four bowed, and the ANBU escorted the two still dazed, pale members out the door.

"Hound, go to the hospital and bring back Hikaru-san. Itachi-san needs to be looked at."

Hound bowed and was also gone in a swirl of leaves. Then the Hokage turned to the group still left as Itachi closed his eyes, resting his scorched face on the cold stone. He was fading in and out, but he gripped onto consciousness fiercely, unwilling to release it just yet. He felt a flare of chakra, and blinked open his eyes to see Minato kneeling by him, still ashen faced, but with a determined look in his eyes.

"I can heal it," he mumbled to no one in particular, and Itachi signed silently in relief when the pain began to ebb away. He felt a cold hand touch the unburned side of his face, and twisted slightly so he could see who was touching him. Sasuke knelt at his head, his black eyes confused, hurt, and still slightly furious.

"Nii-san…if, if all of that is true, then why…"

"Why did I put you in that genjutsu," he whispered, and Sasuke nodded, a little of the anger coming back. "I couldn't kill you, Sasuke. I was planning on leaving and not coming back, and I wished you to continue the legacy of the Uchiha Clan. I wanted you to hate me, because hate is a powerful emotion, and I wanted…no, needed you to be the one to kill me." He ignored Sasuke's gasp, the once soft black eyes filling with tears as he watched them slowly lose their innocence. "In my mind, it would have been your right, and yours alone to kill me. I didn't want to live with what I had done, I still do not know if I'll be able to, but…" He twitched as his skin gave a particular twisting sensation, and Minato sat back.

"I healed it completely, and I'm a pretty good medic. But Itachi…you'll have a scar."

Itachi nodded and sat up slowly, reaching up a shaking hand to touch his face. He could feel where it started. Right below his right temple, then it spread slightly as it went down, covering his jaw and continuing down his neck. It covered his entire right shoulder and most of his arm, as well as the majority of his right side. It wouldn't encumber him in battle though, as long as he didn't allow the scars to stiffen.

Turning, he met Sasuke's eyes once again. "All I can say otouto, is that I'm sorry for what I did. I did not know that things would turn out this way, and I…I tried to make things as easy for you as possible."

"Easy?" Sasuke exploded, jumping to his feet and glaring down at him. "You're calling what you did easy?"

Itachi returned his look calmly. "Would you rather have lived with the truth of our Clan, or the lie I had given you? Could you have lived with the shame of knowing what our Clan had planned on doing?"

Sasuke frowned, looking as though he was torn between punching Itachi and running. "I…"

They were stopped as Naruto snorted. All eyes turned to him, and he snickered. "Guess what? Shit happens Sasuke. You can't go back and change it now, and neither can Itachi. He did it 'cause he loves you, even though he went about it the wrong way. You can whine and bitch about it, or you can get over it." He glared as Sasuke opened his mouth, Itachi snickering silently as Sasuke went pale, meeting those electric blue eyes for the first time. "I'm not saying it's gonna be easy Sasuke. But you can either accept that he did it for you, or you can keep on hating him for what he did. It's your choice."

There was a quiet silence in the room as Sasuke frowned, and Itachi could see how much confusion his words and Naruto's had caused. It made his heart ache, but he welcomed the arrival of Kakashi and the medic, smiling gently at the woman as she blushed when she examined him. It would do no good to tell her that he was gay, since it didn't matter either way. He would always have fan girls as long as he lived in Konoha. It was one of the only things he was looking forward to with leaving.

"Hokage-sama," the red head said quietly when the medic left, and all eyes turned towards him. Sasuke sat down next to him on the floor, and without hesitation, Gaara wrapped his arms around his brother and held him close. What surprised Itachi was that Sasuke allowed it, and didn't even try to protest. It told him more about his brother's mental state then any words. "I would like us to stay."

"Gaara!" Naruto yelled, rounding on the boy with furious eyes. "What about traveling? What about our family?"

Itachi watched as Gaara calmly returned the look. "Whether you want to believe it or not, we were created to be shinobi Naruto. We cannot become shinobi if we are constantly traveling around with Jiraiya. Our family will not suffer by staying here."

"But…!"

"Gaara is right, gaki," Jiraiya said, and everyone looked at the man as he stepped through the window.

"No!" The blond exploded, hands clenched as he glared at everyone, particularly Gaara and Jiraiya. "Why should we work, bleed, and fight for the people of this Village, when they've done nothing but scorn us every time we come here? The only reason they don't spit on us is because of our name!"

"Naruto…" Gaara said quietly, but Minato shook his head and stood next to his twin.

"I agree with him," he spoke quietly, but his voice was firm. "However…"

There was a silent staring contest between the two blonds, Minato calmly calculating and Naruto blazing with anger. It only lasted a moment before cunning and understanding lit Naruto's eyes, and Minato smiled slightly, nodding. Huffing, Naruto plopped onto the floor, arms crossed and a stubborn glint in his eyes.

"Fine," he said grudgingly.

"Naruto, I am tired," Gaara said quietly, barely loud enough for Itachi to hear. He watched as Naruto went wide eyed, twisting to look over at his fellow Jinchuuriki. "I am tired of the constant traveling. We have no place to call…home. And isn't this what we've been training for? So we could have the strength to protect something more than ourselves? What is the point of having this power, if we are selfish and keep it to ourselves? Besides…I know the real reason you want to continue to travel, but Konoha will help with that more than wandering."

Suspicion prickled in the back of Itachi's mind as the blonds nodded, and it only increased as fleeting, evil smirks passed over their faces.

"Is it settled then?" Jiraiya huffed, arms crossed as he rested in the windowsill. All three of them nodded, and so did he. "Part of the reason I brought you back is because you're old enough to start the Academy, even though you don't need it. Actually…" He looked down at Itachi. "Can Sasuke do the Academy jutsu's?"

"I…" Itachi frowned, and looked over at Sasuke. "I don't know."

Scowling Sasuke stood, his hands forming quick seals. "Henge!" Poof, he was identical to Itachi in every way, including the new scar. It disappeared, and his hands formed different seals. "Bunshin!" An identical Sasuke poofed into being right next to him. With an arrogant smirk, he formed others. "Kawarmi!" His body changed into a log that Gaara caught with his sand, and the previous clone crossed his arms, a smug grin on his face.

"You mean those?" he asked, and Itachi thought Naruto snorted, but it could have been Minato. He looked at the lighter blond twin, and blinked as he found Minato studying him. Jiraiya started to say something, but he was caught by the penetrating, intensely curious stare.

He found himself returning it, the puzzle that the Namikaze twins presented to him bringing about his curiosity. He had thought for a long time that Danzo had trained it out of him, but apparently not. Oddly enough, he found himself looking over the slightly feminine features, but no one would ever mistake either twin for being female. There was too much of a male aura surrounding them. It also didn't help that he had the straight shoulders, childish, but still strong body, and his lips…

Itachi wrenched his eyes away as Minato's widened, and he could feel a blush stain his cheeks. What was wrong with him? Minato was only 8 years old, the same age as his brother! It didn't matter that he knew the blond possessed a mind more suited to an adult, or that they were only 5 years apart.

Something the Sandaime said caught his attention and he frowned, tuning back into the conversation and locking the confusing feelings away for the time being.

"…and it will be unusual but I don't see why not," the Hokage said, leaning back in his chair and puffing on his ever present pipe.

"Cool! This is going to be so awesome!" Naruto yelled, and Itachi narrowed his eyes. Had he been that far gone in his thoughts that he had missed an obviously important conversation?

"Do you agree Itachi?"

Apparently he had.

"Hokage-sama, I regret to inform you that I wasn't paying attention to the conversation. If you could tell me what you were talking about, then I will give you my answer."

Minato snickered quietly, and it took every ounce of willpower not to blush at the insinuating sound. So Minato _had_ realized his thoughts.

The Hokage sighed, and gave him a slightly peeved look. "As the Hokage I can choose to bypass the Academy and promote those who prove themselves directly to Genin. If you agree, the twins, Gaara, and Sasuke will live with you until they are all ten, which is when I will give them their hitai-ite. All four of them can do, and know everything the Academy can teach, so there is no point in them being enrolled. In Sasuke's case, he can be pulled out. You will be taken out of ANBU until they become Chuunin, and Jiraiya already agreed to help pay for their living expenses and to continue their training when he is here. I will also help support all of you. The twins have already agreed to let everyone live in the house left to them by their father." He paused, his brown eyes searching Itachi's face. "But this will only happen if you agree."

Itachi reeled slightly at just the thought of the responsibility he would be taking on. Training three Jinchuuriki, and his genius of a little brother? The other three weren't exactly stupid either. He looked them over, his eyes pausing on Sasuke and Gaara, wondering again how close those two were already. Gaara's arms were once again locked around Sasuke's shoulders, his brothers back to the red heads chest. Naruto was looking at him with those big, glistening blue eyes, his lower lip trembling as he literally begged with his eyes. Finally, he stopped on Minato.

Those eyes…like chips of ice, yet burning with sheer _life_. Young yet old. Hunted but free.

They were staring at him, the slender arms crossed over his chest, and Itachi tilted his head slightly in consideration. Minato returned his look calmly, though the slight nibbling of his bottom lip gave away his nervousness. Itachi couldn't stop the slight blush that stained his cheeks when Minato's eyes slowly turned appraising, darkening slightly with erotic approval as they went down Itachi's body, then back up just as slowly. When their eyes met again, Itachi licked his lips at the blatant glaze of sexual desire covering the cobalt.

Taking a deep breath he looked away, and towards the Hokage. He would worry about that later, but he knew that there was no way he could turn them away. His brother, the sons of the Yondaime, the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi…would there ever be a team quite like this one, in any of the Villages? He was getting the feeling that eventually, they would carve their own names through the shinobi world, and it probably wasn't that far into the future.

He wanted to be a part of that, of their family.

"I agree, Hokage-sama," he said with a bow, and his fate was sealed with a whoop of happiness from Naruto.


	6. 10 Years Old  Part One

**A/N: I've tried not to put these at the beginning of the chapters, but this one needs a bit of an introduction. It's from Minato's pov, as a sort of taste of what the next story is going to look like. Well...that's about it. Enjoy! Oh, and thanks to my anon reviewers, since I couldn't reply to your reviews.**

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**10 Years Old - Part One  
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**Minato**

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Minato closed his eyes against the warm, fresh breeze coming from the east, a serene look on his face. It was the dawn of their new lives, literally. The cloudy sky there was faintly turning blue, the fluffy whiteness tinged pink. Soon the barest hint of gold would break over their part of the world. A world that today, they were going to give their oath to.

To solemnly swear that they would use all their power, all their knowledge and skill, to protect what the sun touched every day.

It was a small price to pay to have an entire Village loyal to them.

He opened his eyes when the first warm rays hit them, immediately looking to his left and smiling quietly. Naruto was there, eyes closed and a small, serene smile on his lips. Even so, there was still that hint of energy, like his own sun shining through his skin. The scene couldn't help but bring a bigger smile to his own face.

It was nice having something to protect. A reason behind their steadily increasing power. A place…somewhere that they _belonged_.

No one would ever know that they had a deeper meaning for agreeing to live here, and protect this Village. This was where Madara originated from, and it was here that he kept coming back to. The Kyuubi, the Uchiha Massacre…it was only a matter of time before he would make his move once again, and they planned on having the loyalty of not only the villagers, but the shinobi as well.

The ability to gather information on Uchiha Madara had been the original intent of agreeing to join the Village, but while trying to earn the loyalty and trust of its villagers, a real need to protect them had surfaced.

They would do whatever necessary to protect those that smiled at them, that befriended and became family. The small kindnesses that common folk and shinobi alike gave them. Not because of their last name, or at least not completely. They had worked hard to earn the trust of the people who, for eight years, hadn't lived with Jinchuuriki. They knew how unnerving it might be, especially since it wasn't only the two that held the twin Kyuubi's, but also the Ichibi.

Gaara, the Jinchuuriki for the Ichibi and insanely strong in his own right. The fact that he didn't care who knew where his true loyalties lied didn't help in the beginning either. It seemed that they had gained a very ferocious tanuki bodyguard. He agreed with whatever they did, went where they went.

He had even announced to the Hokage that the only reason he was becoming a Konoha shinobi, was because he had promised to always watch their backs.

Never mind the fact that they could protect themselves, or that in private, Gaara had a sharp tongue. He never hesitated to tell them bluntly what he thought, whether right or wrong. It was actually refreshing after the veiled insults of the villagers, and even some of their shinobi. They would finally be able to prove them wrong now, but the villagers had to come first.

No one had trusted them, despite their name and everything they did. Even Sasuke had gotten some of it. Everyone had cooed and wanted to pet the poor boy after Danzo had been executed for the Massacre. They tried luring him away from what they considered the "bad influences" in his life. Some of the older shinobi had even tried talking to Itachi about what he was doing, but that had ended with a few icy, short words.

Once Sasuke made it clear that he wasn't going to abandon his friends or family and throw himself into their "loving" arms, they had turned on him just as quick. Nasty comments, cold glares, the works. Thankfully Sasuke was as stubborn as the rest of them. Stubborn to the point that he hadn't even tried to hide the quasi relationship that he and Gaara were in, going as far as to hold their fellow Jinchuuriki's hand as they walked through the market.

He snorted quietly at another thought, making Naruto glance at him. Shaking his head, Minato turned back to the sunrise and his thoughts, tightening his fingers in his twins.

The thought had been that neither Naruto nor him had been very subtle about who they wanted either. For some reason, Naruto had his eyes set on Kakashi. 21 year old Kakashi, a man twice his age. Though he wasn't any better, chasing after Itachi. At least that was only a 5 year difference. Not that either of them cared, but their others seemed to.

Blinking, he forcefully deterred his thoughts from going down that path, because he knew that he would over analyze every nuance between the four of them, wondering why it was that they couldn't gain their amours attention.

"Neh, Min."

Minato tilted his head to the side, glancing over at his twin. Naruto had his eyes closed to mere slits, the blue almost glowing in the warm sunlight washing over them.

"You remember that first house we helped fix?"

Minato snorted, earning him a broad grin from Naruto.

"How could I forget? We pestered the poor man until he let us help him, and then refused to take payment even though we had bought all the supplies." He was still slightly peeved about that.

Naruto shrugged, entirely unapologetic. "It's not like we can't afford it, with everything that mom and dad left us." His grin turned sharp. "We got that one spy for Orochimaru too, from that."

Minato scowled slightly, but Naruto had a point. They could fix up every single building in Konoha and still have money left. Their mother had been the last shinobi from Uzushio, and their father was the last Namikaze, as well as the Yondaime. Throw the money that Jiraiya and Sarutobi gave them in the mix, and they were set. Because of that too, they had unearthed a few of the Snake Sannin's spies. One of them was now utterly loyal to the twins.

"I think that was really the turning point, ya know?" Naruto said quietly, and Minato nodded, smiling sardonically.

"Nothing like charity work to endear you to your future subjects. Or to get a good start on our own network."

Naruto chortled, smirking. "No shit. Oh, I almost forgot. After we see ojii-san today, I promised that lady down on Oak St. that we would be back to finish her bathroom."

Minato nodded and they fell silent again, letting themselves be warmed by the sun. Familiar chakra tickled their senses and they both glanced down to see Sasuke and Gaara at the base of the tree. That was all it took before their fellow roommates started to climb – well, more like Gaara grabbed Sasuke and lifted them both on his floating sand. The two settled on the branches beneath them, and Minato smiled at the…couple. He might as well start thinking of them like that now, because it hadn't changed in two years.

"…why are we up here?" Sasuke asked quietly after a moment, voice hushed. Minato rolled his eyes as Naruto grinned and dropped down to his branch, grabbing the Uchiha in a big hug that caused him to squeak and glare.

"It's our last sunrise as civilian's teme! See that see that?" Naruto swept his arm out in a grand gesture, indicating the entirety of Konoha. As he did, he calmed somewhat, but that blinding grin was still in place. "This will be ours, Sasuke. Ours to protect, ours to help, and watch grow." The smile dimmed a bit, becoming softer as he trailed off.

Minato smiled at his twin as he looked up, and all four of them turned to the sunrise. It was going to be a beautiful autumn day.

**~o~o~o~o~**

Minato sat by himself, having slipped away after finishing the bathroom like Naruto had promised, examining the new, light blue protector in his hand. The late morning light glinted off the shiny metal as he turned it this way and that, mind blank.

He didn't know how long he sat there, thinking of nothing, doing nothing, until a sneer from his tenant focused him back.

**"Can I help you Laz?"** he asked quietly, and even to him he knew his words were slow and unfocused.

**"I was just going to say that Naruto is on his way here, and you should go deeper into the forest."**

Frowning slightly, he stood and tied the protector around his waist. **"Why would I go deeper?"**

**"I was hoping to continue this silence. It's refreshing,"** Laz said with a yawn, and Minato rolled his eyes even though he was smiling a bit.

**"It is nice to be away from Konoha proper. Sometimes I miss being out on the road."** Laz made a noise of agreement, and his icy blue eyes unfocused again, a slightly feral glint appearing. **"Madara. I've been thinking of him lately, and we either need to get information through Jiraiya, or expand our own network."**

**"I'm inclined towards the latter."**

He nodded shortly. **"As am I. Now that we're Genin and we'll be traveling outside of Konoha a lot. It shouldn't be a problem." **Then he smirked, leaning against the tree with his arms crossed. **"Especially considering the kind of people we met through my godfather."**

Laz hissed her laugher, the sound decidedly evil, yet comforting to the young Jinchuuriki. **"He was a good man for our cages to grow up with. Crafty, powerful, a good actor…all good qualities."**

Minato rolled his eyes, though he couldn't deny the claim. **"Not to mention a good man. Anyway, back to Madara. We need info and we need it fast so we can keep track of his movements. We may have to use _that_ clone, so be prepared."** On the edge of his awareness, he could feel four, familiar signatures coming towards him.

Laz snorted derisively. **"Aye aye captain. It's not going to be that easy though, and you damn well know it."**

Now it was his turn to snort. **"No shit. Go back to sleep."**

**"With pleasure."** She yawned, and he got the distinct mental image of her turning her tail to him and vanishing.

He resisted the urge this time to roll his eyes _again_. The new team appeared at the edge of the small clearing his tree was in, and then jumped to his branch. Naruto was the first to approach him, a big grin on his face though his eyes were curious.

"You missed it Min," his twin said. "We have our first mission!"

Minato blinked, and everything clicked into place. He smirked slightly, but quickly hid it when Naruto looked at him sharply.

"Is it a D-Rank, or higher?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"It's C."

Minato blinked. _Better and better._ "C? We're getting a C-Rank and we only became Genin today?"

"All of you are above Genin level, Minato, as you well know."

He shivered inside as the smooth, velvet tone of Itachi rolled through his body. He didn't know if it was puberty or what, but there was something about the elder Uchiha that caught his thoughts – and his body's – attention. He was getting images that were completely inappropriate for a ten year old, even if he did grow up with Jiraiya and had participated in seduction missions before.

"…Minato?"

He blinked and brought his thoughts back to the present, giving Itachi a small smile. _Focus Minato, damn. _"Sorry about that. So what are the details, and when do we leave?"

They all settled onto the branch, Sasuke in Gaara's arms as usual, Naruto with his head on Minato's leg. Itachi sat between them all and spoke.

"It is a simple escort mission from here to the capital. The only reason it's considered C-Rank is because it is the Daimyo's daughter."

All of them groaned. It was a well known fact that the daughter – having turned 14 earlier in the year – was looking for a husband, and bought their shinobi services based on looks alone. Which meant they were in for a mission that, for the four days it would take to get there, would be hell.

Mentally, Minato couldn't help but gloat about the situation. _The capital. Which means we will have to use that special clone. Which means we need to get away from everyone else for a moment. Lose ourselves in the crowd, that works. Don't really want to be that helpless away from home, but Gaara will be with us. It'll be fine._

"Does it have to be her?" Naruto muttered, and adopted what looked suspiciously like a pout. Minato grinned slightly down at his twin.

Itachi gave his brother a small, indulgent smile, eyes twinkling. "Sorry Naruto. The Hokage gave it to us specifically. There are threats on her life, though that is nothing new considering who she is."

Gaara hummed quietly as Minato started to run his fingers through his twin's hair absently. He had his plans now, and he would inform Naruto later. So he just listened, idly going through various scenarios for their upcoming mission.

"Should we be on the lookout for bandits, thieves, or missing-nin?" The red head asked.

"All of the above," Itachi answered solemnly.

Minato froze for a moment as possibilities and images began to stream though his mind. They had never needed to kill an enemy, since if any bloodshed occurred, it was always by their godfather's hand. He was disturbed yet oddly attracted to the curl of pure bloodlust that toyed with his heart.

Deep inside, he felt Laz stirring. He could swear he felt the slow glide of butter soft fur against the inside of his skin. When Naruto shivered at the same moment he did, he knew his twin was feeling the same.

He was actually _wishing_ that missing-nin, or bandits, or whatever attacked them. Because of the Kyuubi's, they had always been fascinated with blood, violence, and generally the darker aspects of human nature. The Bijuu were creatures of death and destruction after all.

Scarily enough, just the thought of the way blood would roll down his skin sent a thrill from his toes to the roots of his hair. It made his eyes close, hand tensing around a handful of Naruto's hair. Taking a deep breath, he purposely cleared his mind, banking that flare of bloodlust to a muted state.

It wasn't until he saw the slight trepidation on Itachi's face that he smiled. There was a tinge of humor to the toothy grin, but he knew his eyes were glittering with his thoughts.

Then Naruto slapped him out of it. Literally.

Glaring down at his brother, Minato scowled and closed his eyes, returning to his normal cool state. He completely ignored Gaara's snicker.

"When do we leave?" he asked, voice distant.

"Dawn tomorrow," Itachi answered, and he cracked open an eye again. He was able to catch the man in an unguarded moment, since no one else was looking in his direction. Itachi was examining him with those coal black eyes, and he knew he was one of the few that saw the genuine interest in the depths. Their eyes locked, and Minato allowed his to open a bit further, returning the scrutiny.

It always amazed him that since that first time Itachi met his eyes in the streets of the Uchiha complex, he tried to do it as often as he could. He knew Itachi watched him, studied him – trying to figure him out. He didn't mind too much because he did the same in return. The older teen presented a challenge to him, getting between the layers that made up Uchiha Itachi.

He sometimes wondered if that was what Naruto saw in Kakashi. Besides the utterly taboo nature of his pursuit. And his brother made it abundantly clear that _he_ was pursuing _Kakashi_, and _not_ the other way around.

It didn't help that the Kyuu's refused anything less than the strongest, and with their close connection, that belief had transferred to them. So what if the person was male or female? Male shinobi were generally stronger then female, and while it was wrong, and sexist, it was unfortunately true. Therefore, Itachi and Kakashi.

They both looked away when attention was returned to their sensei, and Minato had to suppress the flash of anger at his teammates. He was the only one who saw the unguarded moments, the flashes of true personality that only came out in his presence. For now he would have to be content with that.

"The rest of the day is training," Itachi said quietly, and they all nodded in agreement. "For now I want to work on your control," he ignored the soft groans of protest, "because Kakashi and Jiraiya will be here this afternoon." He smirked slightly, and it made them all quiet, ears perking up. "Once they get here, it will be the three of us against the four of you. Now go."

There was a chorus of "Hai Itachi-sensei!" all in different tones of voice, and three blurs shot to the ground. Minato stayed where he was, not missing the fact that Itachi made no move to leave either. They stared at each other with lidded eyes until three chakra signatures evened out, a sign that the others were concentrating on their exercises.

After another moment, he drawled, "Itachi-sensei, my control is perfect." _Except when it comes to a certain Uchiha_. But he wasn't going to say that.

Itachi's lips curled into a small smile, and Minato mimicked it. "I know that Minato."

"Then what do you want me to do?" He couldn't help the sexual purr in his voice, but his nerves were humming like he was in a battle. Sometimes he really hated having an adult mind but a prepubescent body. Another thrum went through his body as black lit with interest, though it was dampened by the knowledge that Itachi would do nothing.

That thought stopped him cold. Itachi wouldn't do anything…but that didn't mean that he couldn't.

He quickly checked to make sure his team was focused on their exercises, before shifting smoothly to his hands and knees. He watched with a small smirk as Itachi's face closed down, but he had gotten into the habit of not hiding anything while around Minato. It worked against him this time as the blond could still see the wary curiosity.

He crawled forward on his hands and knees, heart thumping heavily as he slowly got closer to the object of his affection…and libido.

"Minato…" Itachi whispered, and he couldn't tell if the husky tone was asking him to come closer, or warn him away. He took it as an invitation, and moved until Itachi was forced back on his elbows. Minato put his hands next to the slender hips, one knee forcing Itachi's legs to spread as he leaned into the Uchiha's personal space.

"Hai, Itachi-sen-_sei_?" he purred, lowering his head to brush his nose along the scarred jaw line. Itachi froze, but Minato was close enough to feel the fine tremble in his muscles.

"This isn't going to happen," Itachi answered firmly, but he didn't attempt to move away. Minato took advantage of this, and placed his lips right over the fluttering pulse.

"Why not?" he asked quietly, his lips barely moving against the scar.

"You are only 10, Minato." The blond brought his head back, eyes narrowing. Itachi continued slowly, looking calmly into his angry ones. "I am not denying the physical attraction that we both have for each other, or the mental connection as it is quite obvious. However, you are 10, and I am 15. If you wait until you are 14, then I will happily pursue a relationship with you."

Minato sat back, sitting on his heels as he stared at Itachi, head cocked to the side. He watched silently as Itachi sat back up, intending to keep his silence. Yet when Itachi gave him that _soft_ look, that one right there, he snapped. He _hated_ that look. It told him that without a doubt Itachi cared for him.

There was a voice screaming at him that Itachi had a point, he was only _10_ for fucks sakes, but he shut it down coolly. What did age have to do with it, now that they could die any damn day? Every mission they would be risking their lives, because they were shinobi.

"We became Genin today," he said, and even he could hear the lack of emotions in his voice. Itachi's eyes narrowed, and Minato knew he recognized the empty, pleasant tone. It never boded well. "We're legally adults now."

And it was time that these people – Itachi and Sarutobi included – learned that if they considered them adults, they needed to be treated as such.

"Minato…that may be true, technically, but-"

"But what, Itachi?" he calmly asked, only the barest hint of his rage coming through. In the back of his mind, he knew he was unnerving Itachi slightly. He didn't allow himself to dwell on it. "You want me, I want you. As far as I knew, you could not care less about what other people thought. I am an adult; treat me like one."

"That is not what this is-"

"Then what is it about, Itachi? If it is the age, then you're full of shit." Itachi's eyes widened at his use of a swear word. "You know as well as I do that the reason we're made adults when reaching Genin is because shinobi don't normally have long lives." His eyes narrowed as he forced himself back into Itachi's space, putting their lips mere inches apart while staring hard into the inky depths. "What are you afraid of, Itachi?"

Itachi's entire demeanor shut down immediately, and Minato knew he had gotten it right with the last barb. Anger began to fizz pleasantly underneath his cheekbones, making his heart race and body hot. Even though Itachi had shut himself down, Minato continued, his voice back to a calm drawl.

"Is it love? Is it sex? What has you so scared that you won't even try, Itachi? Are you scared of how people will view you if our relationship were to become public? Is it how people will look at me?" When Itachi still didn't answer, Minato snarled, frustration welling in him and forcing him almost to his breaking point. _Two fucking years of this shit! _"What is it?"

"Uh…"

Minato and Itachi both glanced down to the ground, and found Jiraiya and Kakashi there. His pseudo father was looking at him oddly, but with sympathy. Which meant the white haired man knew what their little spat was about. Jiraiya's eyes widened slightly in surprise as theirs met, and Minato knew what he looked like.

Blue eyes with a slit pupil, red creeping in from the edges of his iris. The scars on his cheeks a little deeper, his hair slightly wilder, nails a little sharper. There was a reason Minato was the cold one, the one always in control of himself.

He had a horrible temper when it was roused, as the three men were about to experience.

With another snarl, Minato grabbed a surprised Itachi by his vest, and threw him as hard as he could into the ground. He let a little more of Laz's chakra flow into him, turning his eyes completely red as he landed gracefully in front of the men. Breathing surprisingly calm, he watched as Itachi stood from his crouch, where he had landed after sliding.

"How about three on one?" he asked with a wide, slightly insane smile. He didn't give them the chance to answer. He crouched and diverted chakra into his legs for an extra boost, throwing himself at Kakashi and Jiraiya.

Kakashi didn't uncover his Sharingan fast enough to avoid the swift kick to his shoulder, sending the man flying back, and Jiraiya only avoided the roundhouse to his head because he was intimately familiar with the twins fighting style.

Snarling again in frustration, he focused all his attention on Jiraiya, engaging him in a furious taijutsu battle. When he felt one of his ribs crack under a chakra laden blow, his grin only widened. That meant that Jiraiya was taking this seriously, which meant that Minato could too.

Closing his eyes for the briefest moment, Laz grumbled in irritation as he brought forth two tails, spinning just in time to see Laz catch Jiraiya's hand with their special fire.

It hadn't taken long for the twin Bijuu's to learn the knack of how Shukaku wielded the automatic defense of Gaara's, once they had made a deal with the insane demon about a year ago. They would stop suppressing his mind if he agreed to stop trying to take Gaara over. It worked beautifully, except they couldn't stop the nightmares every time Gaara went to sleep. It wasn't even purposely done on Shukaku's part; it was simply a side effect that Gaara would have to deal with.

The only thing that sucked was all the training they had put into developing their chakra into fire was now for naught.

His mentor skipped back, hissing as he shook his hand. Minato would normally feel bad about the slight burns he saw there, but at the moment, he could care less.

Then Itachi crossed his vision, and all his predatory instincts focused on him, as well as all the rage he was harboring.

"Uchiha," he spat, not caring that Itachi flinched. The matured Sharingan activated, and that was it for Minato.

They danced around each other, landing blow for blow. Minato knew that even with the Sharingan, if he brought out anymore tails, Itachi couldn't keep up. He almost did, but surprisingly it was Laz who refused to give him more of her power.

Kakashi caught him from behind, moving too fast for Laz to react with the defense, sending him face first into the dirt. He flipped with the momentum, staying in a crouch until he stopped skidding. Then he grabbed the earth between his feet, his breath hissing through his clenched teeth. He couldn't think, only feel. Anger like acid scalded his veins, making him see red. Years of frustrations, of holding back his emotions, of shoving everything down. There had not been many times that he had been pushed to this emotional breaking point, and that it was against Itachi was unfortunate.

He tilted his head back, and _screamed_.

There was a brief internal battle as he dragged more of her chakra out, the seal on his stomach burning with the effort. Finally Laz just gave up, grumbling that it was too much effort to try and stop him. All he could see was the bloody Sharingan, set in a face that was the center of all his current rage. With a howl, he threw his body at Itachi, fist cocked back and filled with the Kyuubi's chakra, just like how Tsunade had taught him.

Then there was another flash of red, and his world froze as his fist connected with the side of Naruto's face.

Laz's chakra died instantly as he simply stared at where Naruto was embedded into a tree; unable to breath, feel, or even think for a long moment. The world flooded over him in on a tidal wave of terror, and he rushed over and pulled his twins form from the mangled wood.

Panting harshly, he activated the diagnostics jutsu, rapidly sending it into the body he knew so well. The cold knot in his stomach eased a little when all he found was a broken jaw and crushed cheekbone. Things that would seem major for anyone else, but not a Jinchuuriki.

With shaking hands and tears almost in his eyes, he released the diagnostic and started to apply the healing chakra. If it hadn't been for Laz and Princess, he probably would have fucked it up. They held his control perfectly steady – just like Tsunade had beaten into him – as he did nothing but pour power into it and try to regain his senses.

That last blow would have killed Itachi. When he had charged up his fist, he had known it, somewhere. It may not have been his intent to kill the teen, but he had known it was a distinct possibility. Even now, he was lucky that it hadn't killed Naruto, even with Princess. That punch…it could have broken his neck.

Electric blue eyes fluttered open and Minato narrowed his, anger being fueled by his fear rising in him. It wasn't the same anger as before though. Thankfully he had been snapped out of that before fatal injury was done. Once they focused on him, he scowled.

"You stupid, immature, idiot!" he hissed, thankful that the Kyuubi's were directing his chakra. Without the stranglehold over his emotions, it was fluctuating madly. "That could have killed you!"

"If it could have killed me," Naruto answered quietly, his eyes unnaturally grave, "think of what it would have done to Itachi."

Minato hissed and clenched his hands into fists, stopping the healing. That was fine though, because there was a fine coating of Princess's chakra over Naruto's cheek. His jaw had already been healed. Closing his eyes tightly, he stiffened when arms wrapped around him, but when nothing else happened, he slowly relaxed into his brothers arms.

"I…didn't mean to," he whispered brokenly, too softly for anyone else to hear. The arms tightened slightly, and he heard a soft chuckle.

"I know Min. Maybe it is a good thing to wait a few years."

Minato blinked and pulled back, frowning at his gently smiling twin. "Let me finish. You of all people should know this, but currently our bodies are gearing up for puberty. With all the hormones and chemicals…"

"It'll make it easier for me to lose my temper," he mused, painfully collecting his calm and wrapping it around his psyche. The adrenaline rush faded, leaving his vision slightly blurry as he forced his mind to look at the situation logically. He wasn't surprised at all to find himself close to tears. "By 14 I should have enough control so it doesn't happen."

"You have enough control now, but sometimes the stupidest, littlest thing can set us off." Naruto laughed quietly, mirth twinkling in his eyes. "Especially when it comes to those two stubborn men."

Minato cracked a smile at that, and it was a true one. Reaching up, he cupped an identical scarred cheek, and brought their foreheads together. "Thank you 'Ruto…"

Naruto copied him, though his smile was more of a grin. "Anytime Min." He pulled back, and smirked. "Now, it's my turn to beat some sense into Kakashi."

Minato laughed shortly and watched as his brother waltzed right up to Kakashi with a cocky grin, hands in pockets, and promptly challenged him to a one on one match. Kakashi agreed – as he always did – and Minato stood. Walking slowly over to where Jiraiya and Itachi stood, he knelt gracefully and bowed, putting his forehead on his hands.

"My deepest apologizes, Jiraiya-sama, Itachi-sensei. I…losing my temper like that will not happen again, I assure you."

Minato heard rustling, and felt another familiar, large palm on the top of his head. "Meh, no harm done Minato."

He looked up sharply, eyes narrowed and full of pain and guilt. "But…"

"Minato."

The youth looked over at Itachi and Jiraiya slipped away silently, knowing the expression on Minato's face. For all his training, he was still only ten. Jiraiya knew that look…it mean that Minato was about to have a breakdown, and since Naruto and Gaara were both busy, the best person to handle it would be Itachi.

Minato could only hold that dark gaze for a moment before he looked away, furiously slamming the heels of his hands into his eyes and taking deep breaths. He shifted quickly as heat passed over his shoulder, ungracefully falling onto his ass as he winced, lowering his hands.

He looked guiltily at Itachi, who still had his hand poised to land on Minato's shoulder.

"Don't touch me, Itachi-sensei, please," he whispered hoarsely. "I'll lose it if you touch me."

Minato should have known better. Itachi was fast; faster than him when not using Laz or their wind seal. One moment he was there, then the strong, slender arms were wrapped around him from behind, and he stiffened.

The calm that he had been trying to collect started melting away with the caring and sympathy he felt in the arms, and he finally dropped his head. The tears came swiftly along with the shaking, and only Itachi's arms kept him from curling up into a ball.

It wasn't until he heard Itachi quietly humming that he realized he had been speaking 'I'm sorry' over and over again. Biting his bottom lip to stop the words, he let the emotions overcome him, and silently cried away the fear and anger.

A few minutes later he took a deep, calming breath, and Itachi must have felt the change. He sat behind him, and pulled Minato back flush to his chest, simply holding him there. He let his body relax, breathing deeply as he tilted his head back onto Itachi's shoulder, letting the warm afternoon sun seep through him.

He was startled out of his calm atmosphere by a loud whoop from Naruto, and glanced over to see him smiling wickedly down at Kakashi, straddling the man. Both were bloody and worse for wear, and Kakashi just smirked, before flipping them over, using his heavier body weight to pin his twin to the ground.

Minato rolled his eyes and Itachi chuckled as Naruto squeaked indignantly, thrashing about as he tried to get away. Then Kakashi leaned down to whisper something in his ear, and Naruto blushed a brilliant red as his blue eyes went slightly glassy. Kakashi took his chance and jumped away, landing in a crouched position.

Naruto continued to stare for a moment, before blinking and snapping back. Minato snickered as Naruto scowled in embarrassed anger.

"Are you going to let him get away with that?" Sasuke yelled from the other side of the field, and Naruto flipped him off. Minato recognized the glint in the sapphire though, and smirked. He glanced behind him and saw that Itachi was looking at his twin knowingly.

Not a moment later, two Naruto's exploded from the ground, effectively trapping Kakashi where he was. Naruto zipped over to him, and whispered something in his ear that caused the Jounin to have a massive nosebleed and promptly collapse.

Naruto stood over him proudly as the rest of them laughed, but Minato sobered quickly. Turning slightly, he smiled gently at the soft smile on Itachi's face, the mirth dancing in his black eyes. Itachi raised an eyebrow in question when their eyes met.

"I agree to wait until I'm 14," he said quietly, and was perversely warmed by the irritated relief. It was nice to know that Itachi didn't want to wait anymore then he did, but they both knew that it would cause way to much trouble for everyone if something were to happen now.

Taking a page from his twin, he grinned wickedly and shifted so he straddled Itachi's lap. He buried his hands in the silky black hair, forcing it from its tie. Leaning down, he purposely ground their hips together as he whispered in Itachi's ear, "That doesn't mean I won't keep fucking with you. Or stop me from telling you how much I look forward to having your cock inside me," he paused and bit down on the pale neck, feeling the pulse jump under his lips, "making me scream your name."

He pulled back and smirked at the glazed onyx eyes, and stood. He walked over to his twin and slung an arm over his shoulders, while an arm was put around his waist. Then they faced the three still standing, and smirked.

"How about three on two?"

Jiraiya laughed. "What did you say? I think you two broke them!"

The blonds shrugged, smiling cheshire grins. "Nothing that needs to be repeated."

And the rest of the lovely day was spent in training…and waiting for Kakashi and Itachi to snap out of their fantasies.

**~o~o~o~o~**

Minato snarled down at the carriage he rode on, letting his calm mask slip because he knew the clients couldn't see him. There were the private guard of the Daimyo, the Samurai, walking ahead and behind, while he and his team were forced to stay around the carriage that the snotty girl was riding in.

His hands clenched into fists, and as quickly, relaxed. They were only gone a day from Konoha, and already he wanted to strangle her. Even now he could still hear her voice…

"…think, Uchiha-san? The purple silk was pretty, but I think I look much better in the green satin…"

Itachi grunted – agreement or not he couldn't tell – and the girl squealed in happiness. Taking a deep breath he zoned her out again, and spread his senses as far as he could while riding on the roof of something moving.

So far so good. All he felt out there were animals. Then his sense touched on something that made him frown. There was a…blank spot. He supposed it could be just a dead area, but if that were true, then he would sense the life forces of bugs at least. A trick that Jiraiya had taught him, that only he could use because of his control.

He concentrated deeply, and spread it as far as he could go, his frown deepening as he touched on four more of those blank spots. Sighing as he opened his eyes, and tapped the roof to tell Itachi he needed to speak with the man. As soon as he was joined, he met Itachi's eyes.

"There are at least 5 shinobi out there, watching us with their chakra masked. It's possible that there might be more."

Itachi nodded and took him at his word, issuing the orders for the four of them to spread out. As Minato jumped into the trees, he heard Itachi giving the girl reassurances as she started to panic. He concentrated briefly, finding that he was going in the right direction, and then opened his eyes with a feral smile on his face.

_Let the game begin._

He got close enough to the spot that he was sure that whoever was there could feel his chakra, and made a show of looking around. Scowling, jumping erratically, he finally landed on a branch, and snickered. Forming the hand seals, his chakra winked out as he went invisible. The spot fluctuated in surprise, and his smile only grew.

On his hands and knees, he crawled down the tree that the spot was behind, making sure to go slowly so the ripple of his outline was less visible. He stopped when his finger was only a hairs breadth away from the bubble, breathing slowly and shallowly. Readying himself he focused his chakra, and reaching out, he popped it.

Three startled faces shot up, and he smiled at them.

"Hello gentleman. How can I help you on this fine day?"

He dodged the kunai that was thrown at his head, and pushed away from the tree, landing in a crouch behind them with a laugh.

"Now now, you're not playing very nice." He smirked as they scowled, and brought his hands together in a familiar seal.

"Kage Bunshin," he whispered, and ten more Minato's popped out of nowhere.

The leader – with no protector that he could see, which meant mercenaries – laughed as though something was absolutely hilarious. As one, all of the Minato's tilted their heads to the side, and chorused, "What's so funny?"

Minato watched as the man composed himself, the others of his group shifting nervously, looking between their apparently insane leader, and the skinny, blond boy.

"Ah it's nothing," the man said, wiping his eyes and palming another kunai. "Just amazed that they have a short shrimp like you protecting the Hime."

Minato's eye twitched at the 'short shrimp' comment. Yes he knew he was short, and skinny, and didn't look like much. At least he wasn't as short as Naruto. He smirked, and all of his enemies took an involuntary step away.

Reaching into his pocket he palmed a pebble, and flicked it at the man's forehead with the precision of constant practice. He waited until the man flinched to activate the seal, smiling brightly when he arrived in the man's face with a whoosh of wind. He plucked the stone out of the air at the same time.

It took way too much time and effort to make these pebbles, and if they didn't have to leave one behind, they didn't.

"Being skinny helps me go faster," he said happily, then knocked him out with a quick jab to the man's pressure point right under his ear. His eyes rolled back, and he was down.

Minato and Laz scowled as a kunai was plunged to the left of his right shoulder blade, almost deep enough to pierce a lung. Flipping away from them and up the tree, he heard them in hot pursuit, but the clones that he had made took care of it. They bought him enough time before dispelling that he was able to pull it out, and Laz shoved healing chakra into it. His back arched at the searing pain, but it was gone a moment later, leaving him panting.

**"Damnit Laz! That hurt!"**

**"Quit your bitching and get back down there. You only have one clone left."**

Scowling, he did as she said just as his last clone was dispelled. As they stood, watching each other for a long moment, he quickly processed the information he had gotten.

Seems the one on the right was pretty good in taijutsu, and the other one was good in kinjutsu. However, there were no chakra signatures from them, which meant they were simply hired thugs.

Sighing, he cracked his neck, and let the poisonous, addicting chakra of Laz seep through him, shivering as the physical changes took effect.

Opening his bloody red eyes, he smiled slightly as the two backed away, eyes wide in horror.

"What…what the hell are you?" The one on the right demanded, and Minato could smell the fear rolling off them in waves. These two were never going to see the light of day again, so he saw no reason to hide what he had been born to be.

"I am a Jinchuuriki of a Kyuubi." With a smile he flicked a pebble, and appeared right between the two of them. They were standing close enough together that a kunai in each hand slid perfectly into their jugulars. Here, alone, he would not deny the pleasure that the spray of their warm blood on his skin caused him. His first kills…and he enjoyed it.

He licked his lips as he rode them both to the ground, watching intently as the living light faded from their eyes. Straightening slowly, he wiped the weapons on their clothes, and then put them back. Taking a deep breath he released Laz's chakra, and he shivered as he settled into what he – privately – called his 'human form'.

Turning, he grabbed his pebble and the missing-nin, slinging the dead weight over his shoulder with a grunt. He took to the trees, and landed in the clearing a few minutes later. The other three were already there, and he shivered as he caught the look in his team's eyes, that made an answering grin stretch his face.

The game was still on.

"Did you defeat the others?"

Minato glanced over at Itachi, and nodded shortly. Not that it wasn't obvious, with the way he was spattered with blood. Arterial spray, and something that the others were bound to notice. Then again, they all were except for Sasuke. Though the younger Uchiha had probably broken their necks instead of anything…messier.

Minato turned his attention back to the five men lying in a disjointed heap at his feet as Itachi disappeared into the trees – for whatever reason – and tilted his head to the side. These were the missing-nin, and as he bent down to start going through their pockets…

"Oh my! Are you alright Minato-kun?"

He froze and straightened, looking to the side where the girl was getting out of her carriage, Naruto smoothly sliding in and beginning to search the men. She fluffed her dress as she hit the ground, and looked up with a beaming smile on her face…that immediately froze when she caught sight of him.

Still feeling the bite of adrenaline from the fight, he gave into an impish, evil urge, and smiled sweetly at her. She blinked, a blush staining her pale cheeks, but the fear did not leave her eyes. Actually, they grew wider as he sauntered over to her, making sure his smile turned a little more seductive.

Kneeling before her, he gallantly took her hand, intentionally getting blood on it as he stared up at her. He brushed his lips over the smooth skin, making sure to watch her face as he did. She paled dramatically as he left a semi-whole lip print in blood on her skin, and did it again to her knuckles. A fine tremble started in her hand but he held it anyway, a perfectly pleasant smile on his face and in his eyes.

Then he spoke.

"This is what a shinobi is, Hime," he purred, giving her his best 'innocent, sweet' face. Which was pretty damn good. "We kill, we bath in blood. This is what you want to marry? A monster such as us?" He stood, still holding her hand and smiling. Even though he was only ten they were the same height. He leaned into her, letting go of her hand and stroked her cheek. She turned positively ashen when she felt the cool liquid being smeared on her skin, eyes as wide as saucers.

"Don't marry a shinobi, Allya-hime. Marry someone who won't come home covered in blood, who won't scream and cry at night from nightmares of the ones they've killed." He hesitated slightly at the next words, and sighed as he stepped back from her, letting his cold mask fall back into place. "Marry someone for love, not looks."

He held her eye as some of the color came back, and she stared down at her shaking hand and the blood there. She nodded slightly, and swallowed.

"H-hai, Namikaze-san," she whispered, and got back into her carriage quickly.

Turning on his heel, he cocked an eyebrow at the smirks he received as he made his way back to his team. "What?"

"That was evil Min," Naruto drawled, and Minato smirked, shrugging.

"So? She's not strong enough to marry a shinobi."

Naruto frowned and opened his mouth, but then shut it and shook his head. "Diabolical Minato."

Grinning wickedly, Minato performed a perfect sweeping bow. "At your service."

"Alright you four," Itachi said, reappearing from the woods. "We…what did you do?"

Minato blinked innocently at his sensei, but he knew he couldn't hide the amusement he was feeling from his eyes. "I don't know what you mean Itachi-sensei."

Itachi stared at him a moment, before smirking. "Of course you don't Minato. Anyway, let's get her home, and then we'll deal with these five once we get back into Konoha. Minato, you know a sleep jutsu, right?"

"Hai," he muttered, and kneeling next to the bound and gagged men, he whispered the incantation for the jutsu. Pressing a finger to each forehead, he repeated the last word each time, making each man fall into a deep sleep. They wouldn't awaken unless it was him, and him alone that released them.

Standing, he yawned and stretched. "It's done."

"Good. Now, let's finish this mission and return home."

He never noticed as the four teens looked at each other, and smiled evilly.

Oh yes, the game was still on.


	7. 10 Years Old  Part Two

**A/N: Well my peoples, this is the last chapter for this story. The next one will be along the same lines, with two chapters from each of the boys, and a brief timeskip between them. *bows deeply* Thank you all for reading!**

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**-.o.-.o.-.o.-.o.-**

**10 Years Old - Part Two  
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**-.o.-.o.-.o.-.o.-**

**Naruto**

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* * *

**

Naruto tilted his head slightly as Minato caught his eye, and nodded. It was time.

They began to melt into the crowd of the capital, and Naruto saw Sasuke and Gaara glance at them. Sasuke rolled his eyes and then trotted up to Itachi, grabbed his arm, and started to drag him away into some shop or another. Gaara nodded to them before following the brothers. He would keep tabs on the twins. He knew what they were doing, and needed to make sure he was close for when they finished.

Grinning at each other, the blonds melted into the crowd, searching and ducking until they found an abandoned alley, quickly moving into it.

"We can't be gone for that long," Minato whispered, and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"I know Minato. So let's do this and get it done."

"Right."

He used the barest hint of Princess's chakra, and brought his hands together into the classic Kage Bunshin seal. What no one else would know except for Minato was that inside him, Princess was in her human form, performing her own set of seals with speed and precision. Hers were nearly 150 signs long though.

"**Ready brat?"**

"**Ready."**

"**Kitsune Bunshin."**

The twins and the Kyuu's said it at the same time, and two forms shimmered into existence as the Kyuubi's jutsu streamed through them. They looked exactly like the twins, just with red hair and eyes. The abrupt dip in their chakra made them both stagger slightly as the forms solidified, and they were left dizzy as nearly half their chakra was gone. Taking a deep breath Naruto steadied himself, and examined the two standing in front of him.

They would only be able to deal with this for eight hours. Having been in close contact with the Kyuu's chakra since birth, any longer then that would break their minds. Then they would have an hour or two where they would go berserk, kill anything and everything around them, then die. However, the Kyuu's could mask their chakra perfectly, which made them the perfect tools for this job.

"You two need Henges, or this'll never work," he said with a nod, and they sneered at him.

They both performed the necessary hand seals, and were transformed into two women with only average looks and somewhat scraggly black hair and eyes.

"Is this better?"

Naruto smirked and nodded...then realized that probably wasn't a good idea when the dizziness increased into nausea. "Yep. That's good Princess."

"You two know what to do?" Minato asked hoarsely, and they nodded. "You have until sunup to get the information we need. I want at least two contacts here by the time you're done, got it?"

They rolled their eyes but nodded, and Laz held out her hand. "Money?"

Minato snorted and handed her a pouch, and Princess grinned.

"No spending it on clothes unless you already have two contacts," Naruto said sternly, and she pouted at him.

"That's just not fair brat."

He shrugged. "We need the contacts more then you need clothing. Or do you not want to keep tabs on Madara?" She snarled at him, and he only shrugged again. "Your choice Princess."

"Fine fine," she said airily, waving her hand. Laz rolled her eyes and grabbed her twin's hand, dragging her off into the street.

"See you at sunrise."

They waved, and the two women were gone in the crowd. It wasn't until then that they sagged against the wall, panting slightly through the dizziness that was swimming through them.

"I hate that jutsu," he muttered, and Minato nodded.

"Even so, it's useful."

"Yea, but I don't know if the side effects are worth it."

Minato took a deep breath and pushed off the wall, and Naruto followed. "Maybe, but at least they can't be sensed. We need to find Gaara before this gets worse."

"Yea," Naruto returned as he staggered away from the wall, draping an arm around Minato's waist. Hopefully they would only seem like a pair of drunks.

As luck would have it, as soon as they got onto the main street, they were stopped by none other than Gaara. He gave them a quick glance over, and shook his head knowingly. Gaara was the only one who knew the true origin of their "disease". Sighing – and ignoring the gasps and screams of alarm – he picked them up in his sand, fashioning a sort of bed that floated behind him.

It was actually quite amusing to see the reactions of people as Gaara walked stately down the street, a thin stream of sand from the gourd the only thing that connected him to the floating bed. Then there was the twins, completely comfortable curled up around each other on the sand, concentrating only on breathing past the nausea that the dizziness was causing.

Naruto didn't realize he dozed, but when a gentle hand was put on his shoulder, he opened blurry eyes and looked up. Gaara was frowning, and indicated the building behind him with a tilt of his head.

"Come on. Let's get you into bed before Itachi comes back," he whispered and Naruto nodded. He would never admit it, but he was happy Sasuke was there as well. As soon as the sand deposited him on his feet, he pitched forward. Sasuke caught him with a grunt.

"Damn dobe. You're heavier then you look."

"Shu'p teme," he slurred, the world spinning around him. He had enough sense to stagger up the stairs, Gaara and Minato right behind him, and fall bonelessly on the bed. Minato was deposited right next to him, and with shaky arms, he reached out and gathered his twin close. Minato pressed his face against his chest, body trembling freely now that they were safe.

Naruto barely heard the words that Minato said.

"I hate this 'Ruto…"

"I know Min. Let's try to sleep, neh?"

"Yea…"

They fell into a light, fitful doze, waking when Itachi walked in from his shopping. The blanket was up to their chins by that point, and chills racked them both. Naruto watched warily through tunnel vision, body tense as Itachi set down the bags and walked over to them. He was stopped by two pairs of small hands, just as Naruto snarled drunkenly and pulled Minato protectively closer to him.

Mentally he knew there was no reason to be worried about Itachi harming them, just like he knew neither Gaara nor Sasuke would. That didn't stop his instincts, and in his current state, instincts won.

"Don't go near them Itachi," Gaara said quietly, drawing the man back. Naruto felt the loss of the predatory focus almost as keenly as his twisting, utterly distorted perception.

"They're both really sick, and only Jiraiya can approach them when they're this bad," Sasuke muttered, sighing quietly.

Naruto bit hard on his cheek as nausea clawed up his throat, using the pain to shove it down, giving him something else to focus on. The symptoms always got worse the longer time went on, eventually evolving into pure, unadulterated torture. Dawn would be the limit they had experimented with that would allow them to keep their sanity in check.

And keep everyone around them safe. Naruto could still remember when they first experimented with these clones. Jiraiya still had scars from it.

"What's wrong with them?" Itachi asked quietly.

"No one knows. This happens randomly. This is only the third time I've seen it." Gaara's voice was quiet, thoughtful. "Not even Tsunade-hime could figure out what was wrong. You don't need to worry though. Around dawn they should be back to normal."

Naruto snickered silently as he watched and listened to the exchange. Baa-chan couldn't find anything wrong because when they had been with her, nothing had _been _wrong. So far, they had been able to keep the secret of the clone from everyone but Gaara, since no one could tell the difference when the Kyuu's weren't inside them. Seeing the look of surprise on Itachi's face when he heard about baa-chan was priceless.

"How do you know Tsunade-hime? And are you sure they'll be fine?"

Gaara shrugged and sat down, leaning against his gourd. "We received training from her some years ago. Yes, I am sure. It passes rather quickly, and once it's gone, they are instantly back to normal."

Itachi absorbed this, and nodded. "What did she train you in?"

Gaara just looked at Itachi blankly, but his eyes flickered over when Naruto choked on laughter. "Itachi, you're supposed to be a genius. Are you telling me that you cannot make the connections between what you know of Tsunade-hime and us?"

Itachi blushed at the condescending tone, but didn't reply immediately. After a moment, "So that's where Minato learned healing. And how you three developed your team dynamic."

The short claps coming from Gaara were dripping with sarcasm, as was his sneer. "Congratulations. You deserve a cookie."

Naruto did snort audibly then. It was a testament to how uneasy Gaara was when they were like this that he unleashed his tongue on Itachi. Gaara immediately walked a short ways to them, stopping when Naruto tensed once again.

"Do you want anything?" he asked quietly. Naruto shook his head, breathing shallowly as pain began to shoot up his spine.

"No…just, don't go anywhere, neh?"

It took everything he had to hold completely still as Gaara used a damp washcloth to bath their sweaty faces. Each movement was carefully controlled, and that was the only reason Naruto didn't lash out.

"Try to sleep 'Ruto," Gaara muttered, drawing back with narrowed, concerned eyes. Naruto was able to relax then, and did fall into broken sleep after awhile.

Dawn came, and thankfully while everyone was asleep. Naruto was just about to open his mouth to scream as a bloody, zombified Jiraiya shuffled towards their bed, milky eyes intent on killing them, when he felt the Kyuu's return.

The hallucination faded quickly, and he felt Minato's trembling slow, then stop as their coils were refilled with the blending of their and the Kyuu's chakra. Minato glanced up groggily at him, and he nodded. With deep breaths, they hit the trigger in their minds, and were instantly transported into the shared mindscape they had created.

Naruto blinked rapidly to clear his vision, and then smirked at what he was seeing. Princess was twirling around in her cage, wearing the human form she preferred. She stopped when she saw them, and Laz laughed as she bounced to the bars, grinning.

"**Do you like it? Hmm? I love this yellow color! It's so pretty!"**

Naruto just shook his head, grinning, and the other twins were doing the same.

"Heh. It is beautiful Princess. Did you guys get the contacts?"

"**Yes we did." **Laz answered, and Princess pouted at being ignored. **"One of them knows about the Akatsuki, the group Madara leads, and supplies them occasionally. The other can help us keep tabs on Orochimaru since it seems he is a part of Akatsuki, but not."**

They frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

The demon shrugged, and answered as she began to shimmer into her full nine tails body. **"From what he said, I believe that Orochimaru is more of an employee then a member."**

"Did you get anything else?" Naruto asked, looking between them. Princess was in her natural body now too.

"**No, but here are the faces of them."**

There was a short flare of chakra from them, and two faces swam into their minds. One of a plain woman, and another of what looked like a male merchant.

"Do they expect us, or you?" Minato asked.

"**Both."**

They nodded. "Alright. We're going to get some sleep."

With another touch to the chakra trigger, they were back in their own minds, and without even a thought, they fell into a deep sleep.

**~o~o~o~o~**

Naruto cracked his knuckles in anticipation as Gaara stopped, much to the confusion of Itachi. They were halfway back in the middle of the woods. A perfect place to finish their game.

"What are you doing Gaara?" Itachi asked, but all four glared at him slightly as Gaara deposited the five men on the ground.

"Neh, Min, there's an odd number this time," he said, cracking his neck as red began to bleed into his eyes.

Laughing devilishly, Minato walked over to him. "Hai. And I think Itachi-sensei will refuse to participate in our game."

Now Sasuke chuckled, looking askance at his older brother. "I agree."

"I might if you tell me what this 'game' is," Itachi said coldly, glaring at them.

Minato and Gaara exchanged looks, and Gaara was the one to speak. "We only need one to take back to Konoha."

The area was quiet for a long moment as Itachi's eyes started to widen. "What exactly does this game entail?"

"We hunt them," he said happily, eyes glittering with bloody anticipation. "If they can reach Konoha before we do, we'll give them to Interrogation. If we catch up to them…" His wide grin sharpened as he shrugged. "Like Gaara said, we only need one."

"That's…cruel," Itachi whispered, and Naruto didn't miss the disgust in his eyes. He scowled as Minato flinched, putting his hands on his hips to face their sensei.

"It may be cruel, Itachi-sensei," he said coldly, not realizing that he was mimicking Minato perfectly, "but it's also a good way to soften those that make it to Konoha for Interrogation. Those that don't, well…" He shrugged. "The world won't miss them."

"You _know_ of this game Sasuke?"

Naruto hid a smirk as Sasuke returned the glare with a bored look that fairly screamed 'What the hell do you think?'

Of course Sasuke knew. While they hadn't played this game with humans before, there were several large predators in the woods around Konoha that were perfect for it. Granted they never killed the animals like they were planning on doing with the humans, but…

"We are shinobi, Itachi-sensei," Minato said coldly, eyes glittering like blue diamonds and just as hard. "Why is it surprising to find that we participate in things like this? We were made, trained, born to be killers." No one said anything as he advanced on Itachi, but Naruto could feel his twin's emotions.

Anger, shame, disgust…anticipation, adrenaline, the desire of a kill.

"We _do_ have control, Itachi-sensei," Naruto said calmly, a hint of red creeping farther onto the edges of blue. Princess was inching her way into his mind and power, and he let her, only a little for now. "But we are Jinchuuriki. The beasts held inside of us are beings of death and destruction, regardless of their intelligence. Did you not stop to think that those emotions would feed into our own, especially with how we are tied to the Bijuu?" He pulled out a kunai slowly, idly twisting it around his fingers, eyes steely.

"We are _hunters_, Uchiha Itachi. This is what we do best."

Naruto watched as everything clicked into high gear in their sensei's mind, watched him don the emotionless mask. _We'll have to deal with his issues later. Right now we have a game to finish._

He growled softly, Princess echoing it at a deeper pitch when Itachi turned to Sasuke, disbelief flashing in his eyes for a moment.

"You're taking part in this…_game_, Sasuke?"

Sasuke calmly returned the look, but a small smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Hai, onii-san."

Itachi's mask broke slightly at the words. "_Why_ otouto?"

Sasuke just sighed and walked over to them, tucking his right arm through Gaara's. "Their way of seeing things makes sense to me." He didn't even bother to elaborate, just returned the stare coolly.

Itachi shook his head slightly and the mask was back to being perfect. "Very well. I'll take one of them back to Konoha, and I expect the four of you back alone." He hesitated, staring at each one of them intently for a moment, searching, probing their resolve. None of them flinched, and his eyes hardened. "Very well. I also expect a full report on what all of them knew. You have until sunset tomorrow before I come looking for you."

He bent, picked up a man, and was gone through the woods. It left the four of them standing there glaring the way he went, before Sasuke snickered.

"I wonder if they'll be able to wake him up?"

Just like that the tense atmosphere shifted as in unison they blinked, grinned, and started laughing.

"Oh shit," Naruto muttered, one hand wiping his eyes while the other propped himself up on a knee. "I forgot Minato had put that sleep jutsu on them! They'll _have_ to wait until we get back!"

Even Minato and Gaara were wiping wet eyes, and Minato spoke next. "So, how do we want to track them?"

Naruto shook his head and walked over to the men, pushing or pulling each man until they were on their backs. Princess cooed happily as he allowed her to slip deeper into his psyche, changing his fingers to spindly claws. He delicately cut off their shirts, and by the last one, found himself humming a quiet tune.

Shaking his head and grinning, he started the pattern for permanently sealing chakra on the first man. Minato moved to the second, and soon all four of them were busy cutting the seal deep into the skin.

It was a special seal that they shouldn't have known at their age and rank, but the man they had gotten it from didn't even remember. Granted Jiraiya had bet them at a game of cards, but he had been drunk. Very drunk. With saké provided by the twins.

Naruto snickered and activated it. Ah that had been a fun night.

Even with the jutsu holding him in sleep, the man whimpered in pain. It was unfair of them to seal all their chakra, and normally probably wouldn't. But they were too close to home, and there was no way they could let them escape.

Minato healed them and Naruto stood, dusting off his hands – even though there was nothing there but blood.

"Alright, since we sealed their chakra, it's only fair that we don't use ours."

Princess snarled. "**Naruto! We want to participate!"**

"**Hmm…well, you two can merge with us. We still don't plan on using chakra through."**

She purred even as she snickered. It was a weird combination that he had only heard the two of them use. **"Oh Shukaku is going to be pissed. Then again, if he wasn't such a little bitch with Gaara, the kid would probably let him out to play."**

"**True."**

He opened his mouth to tell Minato, and then closed it when he got a good look at his twin. He must have already talked to Laz, because he was meditating on the ground. The red cloak of chakra was already condensing into a single blond fox tail with nine black rings, the underside cinnamon red and blond ears with red inside. As he sat down, he knew that soon he would be sporting a tail and ears of his own.

Princess hummed softly in comfort as she slithered through his veins and chakra coils, because despite what they did, it _hurt_. Even for them, who had dealt with their chakra their entire lives, it was still nearly acidic. It twisted and pulsed, and only training kept him from twitching and whimpering in pain.

Finally she settled down, and began cooing softly in apology as he blinked opened his eyes. He immediately had to shut them to slits as the light seared them, forgetting how much better his eyesight was when they were merged. He concentrated on the smells and sounds around them as his eyes adjusted.

Sasuke's and Gaara's heartbeats, their unique smells, the mouse that was scurrying in the underbrush to their right. There was a feral cat stalking it, but it ran off as soon as it caught their scent. The mouse didn't, but then again mice were stupid creatures.

He finally opened his eyes completely, and blinked back tears as he looked into Minato's. He grinned sheepishly and reached out, touching the corner of one eye.

"I forgot how beautiful they look like this," he whispered, and his twin smiled back. It was true. With the Kyuubi's looking out from their eyes, there were flecks of iridescent red floating in the irises, constantly moving. Their pupil didn't change into the slit ones of the Kyuubi's, but it always looked as though there was a red flame burning in their depths. It was a pool of the Kyuu's chakra inside their eyes that made them sharper, instead of changing the shape and muscle structure of their eyes.

Grinning he jumped to his feet, ears and tail twitching as he bounced around from tree to tree, getting used to the extra appendage. Minato was doing the same, and they started an impromptu game of tag between them while Gaara and Sasuke laughed. They were the only two besides Jiraiya who had seen this form, and they were hoping to keep it that way.

Well, maybe Kakashi would see it. His Cyclops was a lot more understanding then Itachi was.

Landing by the still sleeping men, he nodded to Minato, and his twin whispered the release jutsu. All four of them blinked slowly, but then they proved that they were missing-nin. Their eyes sharpened and they all jumped up, ready to flee, but Gaara and Sasuke were already there. Lines of wire and sand wrapped around the men, keeping them in place.

"We're going to make you a deal," Minato said as Naruto started to stalk around them, Princess's purr of anticipation coming from his mouth. The men alternated looking from one twin to the other, but finally one spoke.

"So you're going to let us go?"

Minato smiled, a gesture full of sharp teeth. "No. I don't know what gave you that idea. Never said it was that kind of deal."

Now all the men were staring at Minato, as his blond tail weaved elegantly behind him. In contrast, Naruto stood next to his twin, his tail lashing back and forth, wanting to get the show on the road.

"So what the hell is this deal?"

Naruto took up the explanation. "Your chakra is sealed permanently, and you have no weapons." His head tilted to the side, ears flickering. "The deal is this. If you tell us everything you know now, we won't be forced to break into your minds to get it."

They all paled at that. It probably didn't help that Naruto knew he was sporting a bloodthirsty grin on his face. Or that Gaara and Sasuke – who were now standing behind them – were being the epitome of calm, cruel shinobi.

"If…if we don't?"

Naruto shrugged, and Minato spoke. "Either way we are going to hunt you. This way, all you have to worry about is dying with your mind intact, instead of being raving lunatics."

They all started struggling ferociously against the bonds, but were easily subdued by a pulse of lightning chakra Sasuke fired down the wires and sand.

"Now that you're all quiet again…" Naruto purred, taking a step closer to them. "Which is it?"

The one that had been speaking glared at them with sick resignation in his eyes. "We're going to die, aren't we? And you'll get the information regardless."

All four new Genin nodded, and so did he. "Very well."

"That was too easy," Naruto muttered to Minato about an hour later, as Gaara and Sasuke finished with the last man.

Minato snorted, and tapped his forehead. "Should we?"

"Naw. I don't want to waste the chakra to break into their minds." He cracked his knuckles then his neck. "What we have is good enough for now. Besides, we shouldn't use that technique against small fry's like them. It does too much damage."

Minato hummed in agreement. "True."

Naruto turned to the two, absently stroking the black tip of his tail. "Oi! You two done?"

"Just about," Sasuke muttered as he was rolling up the scroll that contained all the information. Sasuke looked up, and Naruto grinned toothily as onyx swirled into the two tomoe Sharingan. "We're good."

"Perfect." Naruto cracked his knuckles and neck, before walking over to one of the men, looking him over, assessing his strengths and weaknesses. The man flinched and averted his gaze, and Naruto moved onto the next one. _Hmm…who to pick, who to pick…_

"**Go with him my fleshy cage," **Princess purred, and Naruto found his gaze drawn to the biggest guy, who also refused to look away from his two-toned gaze.

"**I think you're right, Princess." **Smirking, he stood in front of the man and looked around. Minato walked up calmly and took the small mouse of a man, but the muddy green eyes were flashing with an odd, manic light. Gaara had the beefy guy, and Sasuke was staring intently at the last one.

"Are we ready?" he called out, and the other nodded even as the big guy with Gaara whimpered slightly. "Alright, we have until sundown tomorrow, and when you're done, go to the west entrance of Konoha. We'll all meet there. Agreed?"

"Agreed." "Hai." "Hn."

Naruto rolled his eyes, and with a devilish grin, he quickly snapped the wire that was holding the man. He smiled jaggedly, eyes flashing. "Run."

With a blink and a snarl, the man did just that. Naruto gave him a head start of a couple minutes, still able to pick up his movements with his twitching fox ears. He shared an anticipatory glance with his twin, and then he was off.

Within a second, the clearing was devoid of life.

**~o~o~o~o~**

Naruto hissed silently in laughter, his tail twitching as he watched the man vainly try to mould chakra with his bloody, abused body. The seal that they had gotten from Jiraiya was different from the others they had learned. For this one, there was no possibility of breaking it.

"**Neh, brat. It's almost sundown."**

Naruto blinked then cursed as he looked into the western sky. **"Shit! I was having too much fun playing with him." **He sighed as Princess laughed. **"Ah well. I guess it's time to end the game."**

He dropped down from his tree right in front of the man, relishing the scream of pure fear as he scrambled back. Princess swam closer to the surface, so she was able to look through his eyes, feel was he was feeling. The unfortunate part of that was that it allowed him to feel her emotions all the better. While the bloodlust and anticipation were nothing new, he was always slightly put off by her almost sexual excitement as the time for shedding blood became closer.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find you?" He clicked his tongue, and shook his head. "You poor stupid man."

"You're a monster! A – a demon! Leave me alone! Why are you doing this? What the hell did I ever do to you?" The man screamed the words, but luckily he was so lost in his own fear and pain, that he didn't notice Naruto flinch slightly at the 'monster' and 'demon' comment.

He hated those words. It reminded him of when they first came to Konoha, and how they had been treated by some of the people there. Still were, sometimes. Shaking it off, he snarled.

"You tried to interfere with our mission. Plus, you're a missing-nin."

The man laughed bitterly, still trying to crab walk away as Naruto steadily stalked closer to him. "You're no different! What are shinobi if not paid killers?"

Naruto paused at that, and nodded. "That's true." Then he continued forward as the man gaped.

"If you agree, why the fuck are you doing this?" he screamed.

Naruto gave him a gentle, terrible smile and crouched down next to him, reaching out slowly and encircling the thick neck with his small hand.

"Because I want to."

The dark brown eyes widened only a moment before claws ripped through his throat, and he collapsed backwards, gurgling through his ruined windpipe.

Naruto stood and stared down, panting as his skin sensitized, heating up with the adrenaline that was flowing through him. The blood rolled slowly down his skin as he watched intently, nearly purring when the last living light disappeared from those brown eyes. Hands shaking and with a bloody, insane grin stretched across his face, he started to rip the man limb from limb. Itachi said he didn't want any evidence…well, there wouldn't be.

When the man was scattered across the small clearing, Naruto tilted his head back and howled, lacing it with just the right amount of Princess's chakra. Calling. _Summoning_.

It didn't take long for all sorts of meat eaters to ring the clearing, and as he looked around, he could see wolves, cats, but the majority were foxes.

He stepped back towards the edge, and he indicated the pieces of the man with a bow. "Enjoy yourselves guys!"

Whistling a happy tune, he took off into the trees, his grin growing darker as the sounds of snarling and fighting over the meat reached his ears.

He was only a few minutes from the gate when Princess smacked him mentally. **"You need to go back to being completely human baka."**

"**Oh shit. Thanks Princess."**

"**Hn."**

"**Damnit, not you too! I get enough of that from that teme!"**

"**Hn."**

Naruto snarled at the smug sound, and closed his eyes as he sat down on a branch. Taking a deep breath, he slowly began to absorb Princess's chakra from his body, channeling it back into the cage where the majority of it still rested. It hurt just as much going in reverse as it did filling him, and he allowed a quiet hiss of pain since he was alone.

Finally, after minutes of painful skin twisting and bones popping, he was human again. Sighing, he stood and stretched, hating these few minutes after the transformation. His hearing felt muted, as did his sense of smell and hearing. Snarling quietly, he leapt through the trees, muttering to himself darkly.

He landed on the wall where the others were waiting, Itachi included. Straightening, he gave everyone else a bright smile, and it was returned in their various ways. Except for Itachi, but he was inspecting them with a disapproving glare.

"Is everything finished?" Their sensei asked, and they all bowed. Sasuke reached into his pouch and pulled out the scroll. Naruto smirked as Sasuke did, when Itachi recoiled slightly from the bloody paper.

"Apologizes Itachi-sensei, for getting it bloody. I couldn't stop it."

For the first time, Naruto really looked at his teammates. All of them were bloody, and it was no surprise that he and Minato were the two that were the worst. Gaara had his Coffin, which got blood on him, but not that much. Sasuke had the least, since he had probably just slit the guys' throat and was done with it. He and Minato though…they were hands on types. It would explain their liberally coated bodies, where their claws had ripped through flesh…

He shivered, and Minato gave him a knowing look. He returned it with a cocky grin, and Minato snorted in amusement. Itachi just glared at them, then sighed.

"Alright. You're already paid for this mission; just go to the accountant and withdraw it. I will see you all at 5 tomorrow morning, training ground 15."

"Hai, Itachi-sensei," they all chorused. Itachi paused, and then sighed again.

"Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Sarutobi are going to be over for dinner tonight. Make sure you're cleaned up by 8."

They all bowed once again, and Itachi disappeared. It was a long moment before anyone spoke, and Naruto was the one to break the silence by yawning.

"Well, that was fun for a first mission." He paused, and then cursed. "Damnit! I was going to go for ramen. Meh, oh well. Let's go!"

They all leapt from the wall and raced over the tops of the Village, laughing the entire way.

Not a bad way to start their lives as official Konoha shinobi.

* * *

**A/N2: Happy New Year to everyone, and once again, thanks for reading. ~Sarissa Diablo**


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